The Best BLT
A sandwich I could eat in a couple of bites. Expect to have limited conversation as you eat this BLT. You'll be otherwise occupied.Marinate the tomato slices in olive oil, vinegar and torn basil and don't worry too much about quantities. There just needs to be enough to moisten the tomato slices.
Servings: 2
Ingredients
- 1 bulb of garlic
- 100 g mayonnaise
- 2 rashers of thick-cut smoky bacon
- ½ tsp Dijon or wholegrain mustard
- 3 tsp maple syrup
- A pinch of chilli powder/chilli flakes
- 1 large tomato
- A drizzle of extra virgin olive oil
- A drop of red wine vinegar
- A small handful of torn fresh basil leaves
- 1 little gem lettuce
- 4 slices of white bread Whatever you have available, although if it's got a hard crust, it'll be more difficult to fry
- A splash of flavourless oil
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Wrap the garlic bulb in foil and preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan/395°F. Once hot, chuck in the garlic and roast for 25 minutes. Leave to cool before unwrapping.
- Squeeze the garlic out of the skin into a bowl. Add the mayonnaise, mix to combine and set aside.
- Preheat the grill to 200°C/180°C fan/395°F. Line a grill pan with baking parchment and top with the bacon. Mix together the mustard, maple syrup and the pinch of chilli, and brush it over the upside of the bacon slices. Keep half of the glaze in the bowl as you'll need to brush the other side later.
- Slide the tray into the grill and cook for 5-10 minutes, checking regularly. When you turn the rashers, brush with the remaining glaze. Cook until crisp around the edge. Remove from the grill and cut each slice in half.
- Slice the tomato and place in a bowl with the olive oil, red wine vinegar and torn basil. Season generously with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
- Separate the leaves of the lettuce and wash under cold water. Shake dry and chop roughly into bite-sized pieces.
- Add some flavourless oil to a frying pan and once it's hot but not smoking quickly fry the bread, roughly 2 minutes each side, until golden and crisp.
- It's time to construct the sandwich! Lay out the four slices of fried bread. Spread some of the mayo on two pieces, add the tomato slices, the bacon pieces and the lettuce, spread more mayo on the top slices and sandwich that BLT together.