BLT w/ Basil Aioli

I've been waiting for you

A big motivation for learning to love tomatoes was wanting to eat a BLT. Specifically, one with big beautiful heirloom slices, oozing with basil aioli. And oh my, it was glorious. also very messy.

Per each sandwich you’ll need

• 1 ciabatta roll (or your bread of choice)

• 4 pieces of crispy bacon

• 2 thick heirloom tomato slices

• 2 baby gem lettuce leaves (romaine works well too!)

• Basil aioli

• Garlic, olive oil, salt + pepper

Instructions

1. If you haven’t made the basil aioli yet, now is a good time to do so. Let it sit in the fridge while your bacon cooks, or make it a day in advance.

2. If you want your bacon to stay flat while cooking, line a baking sheet with parchment paper then lay out your slices. Put the sheet in the oven while its still cold, then preheat the oven to 400°F. Check on your bacon at about 15 minutes to see how close it is to being done. This will take about 20-30 minutes depending on how thick the bacon slices are.

3. Cut your tomato slices somewhere between 1/4” and 1/2” then drizzle with olive oil and generously season with salt and pepper. Do this on both sides. Thinly slice a garlic clove and add those on top of the tomato slices. Let this sit for 10 minutes (longer works too!)

4. Toast your bread! Wash your lettuce!

5. To assemble: spread basil aioli on both pieces of bread. You can stack your sandwich whichever way you like, if you’re eating them right away order matters less. Do what makes you happy! I like to do bacon on bottom, tomato in the middle, lettuce on top. If you’re making these ahead of time and they’re going to sit for a while, you should to lettuce on bottom, tomato in the middle, bacon on top to avoid a soggy sandwich.

voila!! a summer staple!!