Tuna Avocado Toast + Bertolli Contest

Want to know something?  I love olive oil.  Some women collect shoes, or handbags, or jewelry... and I collect olive oils.  One of my favorite brands, Bertolli, is celebrating their 150th anniversary and they sent me that beautiful anniversary bottle above.  It's so pretty!  I want to carry it around like a handbag or wear it on my feet!  I'm very normal!  Anyway, to celebrate, Bertolli is having a recipe contest in which you could win a trip to Tuscany (as well as other prizes) just by submitting a dish using Bertolli oils.  Check it out here and enter soon, the deadline is July 31st!

The other night, using Bertolli olive oil (duh), I tried to recreate a dish we recently had at the Manhattan Beach, CA restaurant Love and Salt.  If you follow me on Instagram, then you know I pretty much fell in love with this restaurant right away.  We ate insanely crispy yet juicy roast chicken, and pasta with bone marrow (yup), and a salad with crispy garbanzo beans... all while sipping spicy margaritas.  And we began the meal with an albacore tuna and avocado toast.  This toast was something magical... every bite so full of bright texture and flavor.  I could have made love to the toast alone... perfectly crispy and probably soaked in delicious olive oil.  Creamy avocado, with a hint of lemon, topped with fresh, chunky tuna that melted in your mouth, and sprinkled with some sort of olive (caper?) mixture and a sliver of onion.  Am I still talking about this toast??

I thought it would be the perfect appetizer to make with my fancy olive oil, see what I did below...      

I had ciabatta bread leftover from our local pizza joint, so I used that, however you could use sourdough or french bread.  Just slice, and sauté on the stove in a splash of olive oil over medium heat until both sides are golden.  Take a can of solid white albacore tuna (soaked in water), drain and place in a bowl.  Scoop out an avocado into another bowl and mash with a fork.  Take the juice of half a lemon, and sprinkle over both bowls.  Drizzle both bowls with olive oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste.  To assemble toasts, spread avocado first, then tuna and then top with some chopped kalamata olives (or use an olive tapenade).  Serve and enjoy!