Guacamole en Molcajete

Rosa Mexicano is a favorite local restaurant, and the guacamole en molcajete (mortar and pestle) is one of its signature appetizers. It’s an avocado dip of deliciousness. Guacamole is super easy to prepare fresh, and it can flavored to taste, either mild or spicy or somewhere in between. This recipe starts by making a chili paste, which provides the base of flavor. I also like to add some fresh squeezed lime juice and a dash of Tabasco.

Source: Guacamole en Molcajete, Rosa Mexicano Restaurants

Ingredients
Chili Paste
1 tablespoon finely chopped white onion
1 firmly packed tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
2 teaspoons finely chopped jalapeño, or more to taste
1 teaspoon salt, or as needed

Additional Ingredients
3 medium ripe but firm Hass avocados (about 8 ounces each)
3 tablespoons diced tomato
2 firmly packed tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
1 tablespoon finely chopped white onion
Salt if necessary
Tortilla chips and/or fresh corn tortillas

Directions
Make the chile paste. Grind the onion, cilantro, jalapeño, and salt together in a molcajete until all the ingredients are very finely ground. Alternatively, use a fork to mash all the ingredients to a paste in a wide hardwood bowl.

Cut each avocado in half, working the knife blade around the pit. Twist the halves to separate them and flick out the pit with the tip of the knife. Fold a kitchen towel in quarters and hold it in the palm of your “non-knife” hand. Rest an avocado half cut side up in your palm and make 3 or 4 evenly spaced lengthwise cuts through the avocado flesh down to the skin, without cutting through it. Make 4 crosswise cuts in the same way. Scoop the diced avocado flesh into the molcajete. Repeat with the remaining avocado halves.