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Heirloom BLT with Pesto

Who doesn’t love eggs and bacon for dinner? Or in this case a heavenly heirloom tomato BLT sandwich oozing with warm pesto and bright yellow egg yolk.

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    Heirloom BLT with Pesto and Fried Egg cut in half and showing the fried egg on a cutting board

    BLT for Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner.

    In an effort to get a meal on the table most evenings, we sometimes find ourselves resorting to breakfast for dinner. Who doesn’t love eggs and bacon for every meal? Or in this case a heavenly bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich oozing with warm basil pesto and bright yellow egg yolk.

    All the usual dinner food groups are represented—protein and veggies, piled between crusty bread—so you can serve this seasonal sandwich to your family or guests without guilt of any kind. While any fresh, ripe tomato can replace the heirloom variety in the recipe, we suggest you gobble up as many heirlooms you can get your hands on while they are still in your gardens, or local farmers markets. You won’t be sorry.

    A bowl with a striped linen and 6 multi colored farm fresh eggs in it
    a small bowl of pesto with a spoon
    four large heirloom tomatoes

    The Very Best BLT Sandwich EVER.

    Actually, here’s how to make the best anything ever—use the best ingredients! Some important upgrades, and a few extra ingredients make this the ultimate BLT recipe. Here’s what you’ll need:

    • Lettuce: while we love romaine lettuce—probably the most classic of BLT lettuce choices—spicy fresh arugula makes for a more exciting, less watery choice. For sandwich-making purposes, it’s just way better.
    • Tomatoes: the “heirloom” part of heirloom tomatoes refers to the seed the tomato was grown from. Heirloom tomatoes are grown from seeds were favored by farmers for their deep, sweet flavors. Delicate, colorful and sweet, heirloom tomatoes are a summertime treat—the best of the best that tomato season has to offer.
    • Bacon: applewood smoked bacon, to be exact. All you have to do is cook it to crispy perfection.
    • Mayo AND homemade pesto: while mayo is the classic BLT condiment, we like to add a little homemade pesto to the mix, too. Since basil is in season right along with those heirloom tomatoes, it just made sense to add basil pesto our perfect BLT recipe
    • Bread: the very best bread for BLTs is ciabatta, hands down. With its craggy crumb, ciabatta holds onto the mayonnaise and pesto that it is slathered with, and still has enough sponginess left over to absorb juicy tomatoes and a runny egg yolk, too.
    • A fried egg: because fried eggs—with crispy edges and perfectly runny insides—make everything better.
    an open faced blt on a wire cooling rack topped with a fried egg
    an open faced blt on a cutting board topped with a fried egg and red heirloom tomatoes

    How to Make a BLT:

    Yeah, a BLT is a little more work than a PBJ. But we think it’s TWI*. Plus, this BLT recipe serves a crowd! Gather a group of your favorite friends, and celebrate tomato season together. Maybe they’ll even help you make the BLTs. Here’s how to make heirloom BLT magic:

    1. Fry your bacon! Fry it in a hot pan until it’s nice and crispy, and let it rest on a paper towel-lined plate while you do the rest of your BLT prep.
    2. Toast the ciabatta bread in the oven. Just until it’s warm and slightly crusty—we’re just going for a bit of warmth and texture.
    3. Spread the mayo and pesto on the warmed bread.
    4. Assemble! Layer bacon, arugula and sliced tomatoes onto the mayonnaise-and-pesto dressed bread.
    5. Fry your eggs!
    6. Slide an egg on top and close the sandwiches. Get some napkins—OK, a lot of napkins—and dig in.

    (*totally worth it).

    heirloom tomato blt sandwiches  cut in half
    two heirloom tomato blt sandwiches cut in half and stacked
    heirloom blt sandwich with pesto cut in half on a plate

    Tools You’ll Need:

    In Praise of the Sandwich:

    Sandwiches for dinner are always a hit, and so easy. Here are our five favorite sandwich recipes:

    Breakfast for Dinner

    Go ahead, take a little vacation from the normal dinner routine that requires you to stand over your stove stirring four different pots. Instead, put a runny-egg topped heirloom BLT on your plate and unwind. Snap a photo of your pesto BLT and tag us on Instagram using @themodernproper and #themodernproper. Happy eating!

    Heirloom BLT with Pesto

    • Serves: 4
    • Prep Time:  15 min
    • Cook Time:  20 min
    • Calories: 640

    Ingredients

    Sandwich

    • 8 slices ciabatta bread
    • 1/4 cup mayonnaise
    • 1/2 cup homemade basil pesto
    • 8 oz apple wood bacon, cooked
    • 2 cups arugula
    • 1 large heirloom tomato, sliced
    • 4 eggs

    Method

    1. To assemble the sandwiches, place bread under an oven’s broiler for 1 minute to get some nice, brown, toasty color and crunch.
    2. On the soft side of one slice of the bread/toast, spread 1 tablespoon mayonnaise. On the other slice of bread, spread 2 tablespoons pesto.
    3. Layer on the bacon, arugula, and tomato.
    4. Fry eggs to desired yolk runniness. Place one egg on each sandwich and enjoy.

    Nutrition Info

    • Per Serving
    • Amount
    • Calories640
    • Protein24 g
    • Carbohydrates58 g
    • Total Fat35 g
    • Dietary Fiber2 g
    • Cholesterol212 mg
    • sodium1220 mg
    • Total Sugars2 g

    Heirloom BLT with Pesto

    Questions & Reviews

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    • Jenn

      Pesto on a BLT is genius, this was delicious!

      Thank you Jenn, we are so glad you loved it!