Hass Avocado Basics

This delightful, dark-skinned fruit has a longer shelf life than other avocado varieties, making it the most popular kind in the country. It’s distinctive, textured skin turns from green to purplish-black when ripe. Enjoy the smooth, nutty flavoured flesh in dips, salads, sandwiches, pastas and other delicious dishes. Here are some tips on choosing and cooking with Hass avocados:

• Choose soft, ripe Hass avocados that don’t have any signs of bruising or sunken spots. The skin should be firm and purple-black in colour. Ripe Hass avocados will give slightly when the neck is pushed.
• To ripen an avocado, store it in a brown paper bag with a banana in the crisper section of the fridge or out of direct sunlight.
• To cut the avocado, cut in half lengthwise by running the knife around the pit. Twist and remove the pit and discard. Use a large spoon to run along the inside of the avocado between the skin and the flesh and scoop out of the shell.
• Once ripe or cut, they can be refrigerated, covered, for up to five days.
• Hass avocados are an excellent source of a number of vitamins and minerals: folate, potassium, vitamins C, B2, B6 and B3 as well as vitamin E.

Serving ideas:

1. Team ripe Hass avocados with savoury flavours such as bacon, chicken, prawns, tomatoes, chillies and limes.
2. Spread ripe Hass avocado on bread and layer your favourite sandwich fillings on top for a quick, delicious and healthy meal. Filling ideas include poached chicken, tomato slices and mixed baby leaf salad on sourdough bread; sliced roast turkey, diced celery and lemon juice drizzle on a poppy seed bagel; and smoked salmon slices, rocket leaves, and sliced cherry tomatoes on floury tortillas.
3. Toss fresh Hass avocado slices through cooked pasta sauces such as bosciola or other cream-based sauces.
4. Mash Hass avocado with a fork and mix with grated lemon rind, lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper and stir through pastas with or without tasty deli meats such as prosciutto or pancetta.
5. Make your own delicious guacamole by combining mashed avocado with seedless tomato quarters, shallots, finely chopped and deseeded red chilli, lime juice and chopped coriander.