Our Best Guacamole, with Crackers - Food for Freshers - learn to cook with Emily & Estella

We love guacamole, and it’s surprisingly versatile. It’s great at parties with a pile of tortilla chips to scoop it up. And it’s lovely on nachos, or as a perfect foil to our Chilli Con Carne (recipe coming soon) or other spicy dish. It’s good on toast, in wraps or on quesadillas too. But we think it makes a lovely light lunch or supper with the crackers of your choice. Today we had some nice thin oatcakes.

You can buy good shop-made versions (we tend to look for chunkier ones that are not too pureed – we find smoother ones can be a bit bland or greasy). But guacamole is very easy to make, and, we must say, fresh is by far the best. The only even slightly tricky bit is to ensure the avocado doesn’t discolour. The key here is adding acid (lime juice in this case) fast once it’s cut. Try it out, you might never want to go back to store-bought!

There’s no definitive recipe for guacamole, and it can vary from just avocado mashed with a little citrus and salt, to chunky versions loaded with onion, peppers, tomato and herbs. It can be made sharp with lemon or lime; flavoured with coriander, chilli, parsley, chives or no herb at all; some argue it must have tomatoes and/or onions, others not at all. It can be completely smooth, like a sauce, or very chopped, like a salad. At the end of the day, it is what you like that matters.

But we think this recipe is the best. It features just a little spring onion and tomato to add freshness, and a subtle kick of chilli and coriander for flavour. And it’s semi-chunky.

You could just throw it all in a bowl, and mash it up a bit, and this would still be good. But we think it is worth the extra effort to make a paste with a little of the chilli, coriander, spring onion and salt. If you have a large pestle & mortar you can use this to make the paste, and also mash the avocados in it with the lime. If not, use a bowl and rolling pin.

First, chop the tomatoes, and add them to the bowl you will serve the guacamole in. Remove the cores and chop medium-small. Today, for a guacamole using 3 large avocados, we used 2 medium-sized tomatoes (we show three in the picture, but ended up thinking two were enough).

Chop the chillies, fairly fine. See our chilli Tip. We like a little spice in our guacamole, so use three small green hot ones. But you can spice to your taste. Add about half to the tomatoes, and place half in a bowl or mortar. If you like it less spicy, leave the seeds behind as you add.

Juice the limes. See our citrus Tip. Today, our limes were small and not very juicy, so we used 3. But you may only need 1 or 2 if your limes are larger and juicy. You can replace the lime with lemon, but we think lime works slightly better with avocado.

Now snip some spring onions. You don’t want to use too many, or they will take over. Today we used 2. Cut off the root, and remove the outer layer. Then snip using scissors, as finely as you can. Snip one into the mortar or bowl with the chilli, and the other into the bowl with the tomatoes.

Chop the coriander. We do this with scissors, see our herb Tip. We used about half a small pack; again it can take over if you use too much, you want the avocado itself to shine. Add half to the mortar or bowl with the chillies, and half to the tomatoes.

Jake sticks his nose in

Not everyone likes coriander; it has a chemical in it that can make it seem soapy to those who can taste it. Leave it out, or use flat leaf parsley instead if you don’t like it.

Now create the paste. Add rock salt to the mortar or bowl with the chill & onions, then crush into a smooth paste with the pestle or a rolling pin. You want it as smooth as possible, so this will take a few minutes of bashing and grinding.

Once everything else is prepped, chop the avocados. You need ripe avocados, that feel slightly soft when squeezed. Today we used 3 large ripe avocados, which made enough guacamole for a light lunch for two people, plus as a side to some Chilli Con Carne for three, with a little left over to put in some chicken wraps the next day.

Don’t cut the avocados until you have juiced the limes and made the paste. The avocados will start to discolour very quickly, and to prevent this you need to cover them in citrus as quickly as possible.

Jake sticks his nose in

Avocado tips. You get two broad types, knobbly black (Hass) and smoother green ones. They are quite similar, but the black ones are generally richer and nuttier, and the green ones firmer, milder and smoother. We marginally prefer the black ones for guacamole, but the key, whichever type, is that they are really ripe. They will both go brown when cut, and this is because the air oxides them. Coating them in oil or citrus juice will prevent this, as will covering them tightly with cling film or a plastic bag.

To chop the avocados, first cut them in half, lengthwise. Remove the stone – a good tip is to slam your knife into it, and then it should easily twist out on the blade.

Add the lime juice to the mortar or bowl with the paste in, and mix to combine. Now cut the avocado halves into slices, then chop into cubes while still on the skin. See the pictures below. Working quickly, peel the chunks into the mortar and cover them in the lime juice. Once all the avocado is in, mash the chunks slightly with your spatula or spoon. You can mash the guacamole as much or as little as you like. We like to leave a few chunks intact, but still have some mashed a bit smoother.

Now add the avocados to the serving bowl with the tomatoes and mix everything well.

Your guacamole is ready! You can serve immediately, but if keeping it for later, cover tightly with cling film or a plastic bag and ideally a tight-fitting lid – the idea is to keep the air off it to stop it discolouring.