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Palta Reina de Atún (Tuna-Stuffed Avocados) Recipe

Excerpted from ‘Latinísimo: Home Recipes from the Twenty-One Countries of Latin America’ by Sandra A. Gutierrez

Published September 25, 2023

palta reina de atún from latinísimo cookbook showing half an avocado with a scoop of tuna on top mixed with chopped tomato, celery and green onion

Kevin J. Miyazaki

Serves 3 to 6

This elegant main course salad of tuna-filled avocados is a classic in Chilean homes, where avocados are known as paltas. The avocados are usually served in their skins, which act like bowls. Tuna is just one of the ingredients that can be transformed into a creamy, mayonnaise-laden filling, as it is in this recipe. Cooked chicken, seafood and even potatoes are frequently substituted, which makes the versatility of these stuffed avocados ideal for everyday cooking. Stuffed avocados were all the rage in the 1970s country club scene throughout the Americas, and I recall eating them for lunch at the Mayan Golf Club in the outskirts of Guatemala City. In Chile, you are most likely to find them in homes, where cooks go all out and decorate them with all sorts of garnishes: chopped roasted peppers or hard-boiled eggs, sliced olives, curly parsley and capers are just some of the versions I’ve seen.

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Ingredients

One 6-ounce can tuna packed in water, drained well and flaked
2 tablespoons finely chopped celery
2 tablespoons finely chopped onions (any color)
2 tablespoons seeded and finely chopped tomatoes
3 tablespoons mayonnaise
¼ teaspoon fine sea salt, or more to taste
Pinch of freshly ground black pepper, or more to taste
2 to 4 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice, or more to taste
3 large Hass avocados

Directions

cover of latinísimo cookbook showing two ears of cooked corn

Courtesy: Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Penguin Random House LLC

In a medium bowl, combine the tuna, celery, onions, tomatoes, mayonnaise, salt, pepper, and lemon juice; mix well.

Halve and pit the avocados.

Divide the tuna salad into six equal portions and scoop it into the avocados (mounding it where the pit used to be).

Serve immediately.

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