Avocados with Carpaccio of Cecina

Servings: 4

Prep Time: 30 min. + time to marinate

Ingredients:

4 avocados

7 oz cecina from León (since air cured beef is unavailable in USA, substitute thinly sliced jamón serrano )

1/2 cup olive oil

Freshly-ground black pepper

Lemon juice

salt flakes

Chives

Coriander

Oil for drizzling

Preparation:

Slice the cecina very thinly by machine, or use vacuum-packed jamón serrano slices. Lay them out on a serving-dish, overlapping slightly. Sprinkle with black pepper and drizzle with olive oil. Leave to marinate for half an hour.

Cut the avocados in half and remove the pit, taking care not to break the peel. Without going as far as the peel, scoop out the flesh using a teaspoon. Sprinkle the flesh with lemon juice to prevent it from getting brown. Place balls of avocado flesh inside the avocado shells, interspersed with the cecina marinated in oil. Sprinkle with chopped chives and coriander. Drizzle with a little olive oil then sprinkle a few Maldon salt flakes over. Serve cold.

Recipe courtesy of Spain GourmeTour magazine.