Recipe: "BLT" ... why would you need a recipe for a BLT?!
Sometimes, you just need a BLT.
As I have often said, the simplest food is usually the best. No classic sandwich I think demonstrates that better than the BLT (perhaps great corned beef on rye with mustard… but go with me here!).
There is a terrible film, I Love Trouble, starring Julia Robert and Nick Nolte as two polar opposite journalists who are investigating a train derailment. I remember practically nothing about the film. I even had to look up the title and plot just to write about it here. But, there is a scene where the director wanted to illustrate the differences between Julia’s character and Nick’s character. So, they are in a bar and Julia orders a BLT – “BLT, hold the mayo, extra tomato and extra lettuce.” Nick’s character looks at her and says, “That sounds good. I’ll have one too. Extra mayo and extra bacon.” Ah, you understand these characters’ differences. That being said, there is no wrong way to have a BLT. And the BLT is so simple, why do I have a recipe for it?! I mean come on… you toast bread, cook bacon, slice tomato, cut up lettuce. Smear mayo on the bread and pile everything on. Done! Well, this is a little different.
I am generally not a fan of tomatoes on sandwiches. I love them raw with great olive oil and even a sprinkle of vinegar or in a salad, but my problem with tomatoes on sandwiches is they make everything soggy. I don’t want tomato juice running down my hand as I try to hold up a sandwich when the bread is bending from being soaked in tomato juice. Just not my thing.
That being said, I do love a traditional BLT. I think it has something to do with the bacon adding the perfect amount of salty, fatty richness that the sweetness and tartness of the tomato cuts through.
But, I thought… why does it have to be a slice of tomato. In fact… why does it have to be bread?
So, here’s an alternate, but worthy version of the BLT. It starts with making a tomato basil jam and then making homemade garlic naan for the bread before smearing it with mayo and piling on bacon and arugula, subbing in for the lettuce.
Just like I Love Trouble showed us… there’s no wrong way to order a BLT.
Ingredients
Tomato Jam
5 Roma tomatoes (always in season and tend to have a firm flesh, perfect for making jam)
1 tablespoon champagne vinegar
8 sundried tomato halves, chopped
4 cloves of garlic
8 leaves of basil
Salt and Pepper
Water added a little at a time
1 tablespoon bacon fat
For Sandwich:
Garlic Naan (this is not my recipe and it can be found here: https://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/garlic-naan)
4 Bacon strips per sandwich
Arugula
Mayonnaise
Begin by placing a medium size sauce pot onto the stove and adding the tablespoon of bacon fat. If you don’t save your bacon fat when you make bacon (shame on you), you could easily make the bacon first and then drain off some of the fat into the pan. Trust me, bacon and tomatoes go so well together. Turn the heat onto medium.
Smash the garlic cloves and tossing them into the pot. Stir and begin to sweat them out.
Next, cut the Roma tomatoes, first taking off the stem end and tossing it out. Then, cut the tomatoes in half and then into quarters. Some people like to de-seed and skin the tomatoes. This can be easily done by cutting a small x into the bottom of the tomato (opposite side of the stem) and then dunking them in boiling water for 10-20 second. The skin will begin to peel and using a parring knife you can take the skin off. After that, you can cut them in half and take out the seeds by hand. I am more rustic with this menu, so I just go for the unpeeled, with seeds tomato chunks.
By this time, the garlic should be aromatic, but not brown. If just slightly turning brown, totally okay. Add the tomatoes immediately to the garlic. They will stop the cooking of the garlic. Then add a couple tablespoons of water a little at a time. We want the jam to reduce and the water helps the tomatoes in the cooking process. Add salt and pepper. Stir.
Then, cut the dried tomatoes into small bits and add them to the pot. You need to make sure there is still a little water in the bottom of the pot as the sundried tomatoes need to rehydrate. If there isn’t, add a little more water. You can use any sundried tomatoes you want. Whether they are stored in oil, water, in a pouch, doesn’t matter.
Cook over medium to medium-low heat stirring occasionally. As the tomatoes become soft, begin mashing them with the back of a wooden spoon to create a thicker liquid. When the consistency is just a little thinner than jelly, add the vinegar and stir. Then, take the pot off heat and allow to cool.
After it has cooled, place the tomato mixture in a food processor and pulse until the mixture is almost smooth. Add the 8 basil leaves and pulse until the basil leaves are spread throughout the jam.
At this point if your garlic naan is done (see link above) and the bacon is cooked (I like to cook my bacon on a sheet tray in the oven at 400 degrees for between 10-15 mins), you are ready to go.
Begin by cutting the naan into a top and bottom piece of equal side. On one side of the bread (the top) spready the tomato jam. On the other side (the bottom piece), spread mayo. Then cut the bacon to fit on the sandwich and stack up on top of the mayo. Finally add arugula to the top of the bacon and place the top/lid on.
Enjoy!
