Avocado Spring Rolls

We hosted Thanksgiving dinner at our place this year.   A few of our very close friends came over for dinner.  Three of the college going kids came back home for the holidays.  It was great to have the house full of people and the kitchen full of food! 

Normally, a very good friend of ours hosts Thanksgiving dinner at their place.  This time, I really wanted to have it at our house.  I don’t remember the last time we had people over for Thanksgiving.  Most of my course work was done and my Saturday classes were also done.  So it felt like a good way to celebrate.

We had an Italian themed potluck dinner. The menu:  Appetizers: bruschetta, spinach dip, cheese and crackers, chips, salsa, guacamole, and avocado spring rolls; Main Course: Minestrone soup, greens salad, quinoa salad, pasta salad, mashed potatoes, eggplant parmesan, mushroom strudel, broccoli strudel, baked mac and cheese,  grilled veggies, and cranberry sauce; Dessert: Pumpkin pecan pie, mango panna cotta, and pumpkin bread

My husband made the grilled veggies, my oldest made the baked mac and cheese, my youngest made the mango panna cotta, and I made the guacamole, avocado spring rolls, soup, and quinoa salad.

As usual, we had way too much food and people ended up taking a ton of food back with them.

I have had avocado eggrolls in Cheesecake Factory.  I almost always end up ordering these when we go there.  I wanted to make something different for appetizers for this party and decided to make these. 

I had dumpling wrappers that I had bought for something else.  These are super easy to use and don’t take much time to make.  They are circular and are made with flour and water.  I made sure that the ones I used had no eggs because a couple of the people who were coming over don’t eat eggs.  I also have a mold that I use to press the dumpling into shape.  I filled them up with the avocado mixture and deep-fried them.  They turned out great – almost as good as the ones you get in Cheesecake Factory!

 

Here is what you need:

(makes about 30 – 40)

For the filling:

• 6 medium sized avocados
• 1 jalapeno, diced
•  ½ red onion, chopped
• ½ cup chopped cilantro
• ½ cup sundried tomatoes, packed in oil
• salt to taste

For the spring rolls:

• dumpling wrappers
• water
• oil for deep-frying

 

Here is how I made it:

1. Dice the avocados into small chunks. I used slightly ripe avocados, so that they don’t turn mushy.
2. Add the chopped onion, diced jalapenos and cilantro.
3. Pour the oil from the sundried tomatoes into this.
4. Dice the sundried tomatoes, add it to the avocados, add salt and mix it in.
5. Heat oil for deep-frying.
6. Take dumpling wrappers on at time and place on the mold. Wet the whole wrapper with water.
7. Place a spoonful of filling in the center and close the mold, pressing it hard, so that the edges are sealed.  (If you don’t have a mold, you can place the wrapper in the palm of your hand and hand press to seal the edges.)
8. When you have five or six ready, drop them in the hot oil and fry over medium heat till all the filling is done.

Serve hot with spicy sauce of your choice.