BLT for the Modern Man

If you’re a bacon lover, then you probably have your own special recipe for the perfect BLT. (Incidentally, if you’re not a bacon lover, you may have steered yourself to the wrong site.) I’ve always loved a simple sandwich on whole wheat, a little mayo, tons of bacon and tomato, and take or leave the lettuce. But sometimes, you know, when I’m feeling fancy, I like to throw a little pizzazz into it. And that’s exactly what Naseem and I (and Felty and Bends) did last week.

First we went shopping. Felty and Bends haven’t been out of the house in a while so they were…enthusiastic.

Once we had gathered the essentials, we were ready to start creating. We began, of course, with lots of bacon.

Not you guys, REAL bacon!

16 slices, I believe, although some of them got “lost” in Brutus’ mouth. (If Naseem wasn’t such a great bacon chef, he wouldn’t be pushed to such extremes.) For our base we chose a nice, soft rosemary focaccia. From there, we added pesto aioli, the bacon, ripe tomatoes, a handful of arugula, (just like the President eats!) and a couple slices of buttery Havarti cheese. We wanted Fontina, but the grocery store thwarted us. We are easily thwarted.

You can’t really have a fancy sandwich these days, especially one with buttery Havarti, unless you panini it. And that’s just what we did. First, we brushed the bread with, yes, you guessed it, BACON GREASE! My favorite frying agent. Then a couple minutes per side on the grill pan, using a nice, heavy press to ensure…um…cohesive assemblage? Uniform melting? Now I’m just making stuff up. Let’s just say it gives the sandwich better lines. George Foreman would be proud.

I told Naseem we probably should have garnished the plate with a salad we could have at least pretended to eat. But we were both starving by this point, so it didn’t seem like such a tragedy. The sandwich was totally worth the time, effort and extra ingredients. Crispy and melty with a more complex flavor than a traditional BLT, but none that overpowered the delicious bacon. And there’s the beauty of the BLT: no matter what you do to it, it’s going to be good. As long as the bacon shines through, honestly, what can go wrong? So the next time you’re making the old standard, poke around in your fridge! See what you’ve got and throw it on there. Bacon lives to experiment!

Ingredients for one sandwich:

• One focaccia roll
• 4 Tbsp. pesto aioli (mix 2 Tbsp. pesto and 2 Tbsp. mayo)
• 4-5 slices bacon, cooked to desired crispness
• 1 ripe tomato, sliced 1/4 inch thick
• Small handful of arugula
• 2 slices Havarti cheese

This post was created as part of the Foodbuzz BACONALIA challenge and is an entry for a chance to win.