Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Little Bite of Happy - Mini BLT's

I don't know about you but I am aching for our local farmers market to open up. I love the fresh smell of peaches that hit you when you walk in and I love digging my hands into the big buckets of peppers and beans. I love the breeze of the fans that help circulate the smell of happiness all over the air. The market I prefer is only open from April through November so just a couple more weeks until I become a regular there. One of the best things to make for a party during the summer are these mini BLT bites with fresh tomatoes from the market. I know, I have stated many times that I don't like the taste of tomatoes but these are delicious and are a perfect and easy addition to any party you might be hosting. You can jazz these up by slow roasting the tomatoes but these are best when tomatoes are at their peak in the summer. And, you must have pesto with these. Now, I typically buy store bought pesto because I can't get myself to tear off every leaf of my basil in order to make one batch. Store bought does the trick for this so don't stress about homemade. These alone are worth throwing a party for!

Mini BLT's
12 slices sourdough bread (I think I used Peppridge farm)
8 sliced thick cut cooked bacon
1 cup good quality mayo
6 Roma tomatoes very thinly sliced and gently squeezed so some of the seeds and juice are gone
1 cup prepared pesto
salt and pepper

Use a small round cookie cutter (or juice glass) and cut out three circles from each slice of bread. Place on a clean cookie sheet and back at 350 degrees until toasted, about 20-25 minutes. Bread can be made up to two days ahead and stored in an air tight container
While the bread is cooking, line one cookie sheet with foil and place a cookie cooling rack on top. Lay the slices of bacon evenly on top of the cooling rack and place in the oven. The bacon will need to cook about 25-30 minutes until crispy. When the bacon has cooked and cooled, cut each piece into 4 pieces.
When ready to serve, spread a small amount of mayo on top of each slice of bread. Top with a tomato slice. Take the cup of pesto and spoon it into a zip lock bag. Snip off the end of the bag and drizzle the pesto over each tomato. Sprinkle the tomatoes with salt and fresh cracked black pepper and top with bacon.
Makes 12-18 servings.

Enjoy Y'all!

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