Anne Can Cook

I didn't think anyone in my family was interested in any of the weirder stuff* I cook. While I was looking around for recipes to try while I'm at my parents' house, I came across this recipe for what I've been calling avocado spaghetti. I thought it sounded interesting, and like it might be a nice, summery alternative to heavier spaghetti sauce.
My parents weren't too interested, however. Amazingly, my younger brother agreed to give it a try. Since it was just the two of us for dinner tonight, I went for it.
Since the website is in Italian, and GoogleTranslate can only do so much, I made a few guesses on the preparation. For instance, I toasted my almonds in the toaster oven, since I have no idea what pentolino refers to.
Gaps in translation aside, this was incredibly easy to assemble. I toasted the almonds and mashed up the avocado cream while waiting for the water to boil. It took me maybe 10 minutes to do all of that.
In terms of flavor, it was about what I expected. The flavor of the avocado is dominant, with hints of thyme. Running across little toasted almonds is pretty delightful, but it is apparently just as good without. My brother skipped them on his and he loved it.
The bread in the picture is a three-cheese foccacia from the local grocery store bakery. I can't stop eating it.

*includes curry, pesto, and anything with avocados.

My good friend Carolyne came across this recipe last year, and it is has already become a winter time staple amongst my friends and family. I believe the original calls for whole, smoke-flavored almonds. I actually prefer it with sliced almonds. It's incredibly easy and incredibly delicious. I've given this as a holiday gift to many a person this year.

1 package of dark chocolate chips (I recommend Hershey's Special Dark if you can find them)
1 small package (about 1 cup) of sliced almonds
sea salt

In a microwaveable bowl, melt the chocolate in intervals. I usually do a 1 minute interval to start with, and follow it with 20-30 second intervals. Stir the chocolate between each interval until smooth.
Once the chocolate is completely melted, stir in about half of the almonds. Pour the mixture into some sort of baking dish. I usually use an 8" x 8" glass pan lined with parchment paper.
Shake the dish to settle the bark evenly. Sprinkle the top with the remaining almonds and the sea salt. Just eyeball the sea salt amount. You want the grains to be visible, but you don't want it to be too salty. You'll know when it's right.
Place the dish in the refrigerator for several hours or overnight. Once the bark has hardened, you can break off pieces as you go or you can take a sharp knife and break the bark into chunks.
If I'm giving this as a present, I usually lay the bark between layers of parchment paper in a tin.