Like Mother Like Daughters

Today marked the beginning of my baby brother’s graduation week, and when big events, like graduation, happen in our house, we tend to celebrate for at least a week. It’s more fun that way! In honor of his big week, my mom let little bro name all the things he wants to eat. Naturally, he wanted bacon. (It’s not something we usually have in the house, and some amount of begging is usually involved to get it on the grocery list.)

If our little graduate could have his way, we would probably be eating bacon sandwiches for the rest of the week. Luckily, my mom reminded him of the Pesto BLTs he had so enjoyed last summer. Done deal. Pesto BLTs it was.

We discovered pesto mayonnaise last year when we added some leftover pesto to our mayo for a twist on the classic, and we will never go back! (Try it – I bet you won’t either!) And, besides being AMAZING, the best thing about our discovery of pesto mayo is that it makes every sandwich taste better: paninis, grilled cheese, hamburgers, you name it!

Gather Up:
1 loaf round rustic Italian bread, sliced and toasted
Pesto mayonnaise: 1/4 cup pesto + 2 tablespoons mayo, combined
1 package uncured bacon
1 head romaine lettuce
3 medium tomatoes

Preheat oven to 400 degrees, and line a jellyroll pan with aluminum foil. Place a cooking rack on top of the jellyroll pan. (The jellyroll pan will catch the bacon grease.) Lay the bacon out flat on the rack. Cook to desired crispness, turning occasionally. About 15 minutes.

While bacon is crisping up, cut tomatoes into slices.

Time to assemble! Spread pesto mayonnaise on both sides of your toasted bread.

Top with Bacon…

…Lettuce…

…and Tomato.

Ta da! Pesto BLT. YUM!

Happy Graduation Week, Sean! We are all SO proud of you!! (And, we would have eaten bacon sandwiches for seven days straight, if that’s what you had really wanted…)

When basil beckons, (and it will…), answer the call with this crazy fragrant pesto that takes you straight out to a summer field and makes you jump for joy! Served over pasta, it is a sublime combination – the fresh pesto coats the warm pasta and it melds together in a marriage made in heaven, accented in this rendition with crumbled feta and sweet cherry tomatoes. Later in the summer, only garden tomatoes will do, but for now we improvise…

So follow along farmer wannabes, because this is so easy and so worth ur time!!! (and it is a sure-fire way for me to get college girl to come running home for dinner…because you can no doubt smell it from here…)

Gather Up:
1 bunch fresh basil
¼ cup pine nuts, toasted
¼ cup fresh grated parmesan cheese
Juice of ½ of a lemon
1 clove garlic, peeled
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
3-4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 pound farfalle pasta
1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved, or sliced garden tomatoes if available
½ cup crumbled feta cheese

Wash the basil, drain and pluck the leaves off the stems. Takes a few minutes, but ur hands will smell so good when you are done…

Lay leaves aside to dry a little while you assemble the rest of the pesto ingredients. If you need to toast the pine nuts, put them in a 350 degree oven for 4-5 minutes, just until their fragrance is released and they have turned slightly golden. In a food processor or blender put in the basil, the toasted pine nuts, the parmesan cheese, the lemon juice, the clove of garlic, a dash of kosher salt, a few grinds of black pepper and 2 tablespoons of the olive oil.

Give the processor a few initial pulses, and take a look for consistency and to scrape down the sides.

Add 1-2 additional tablespoons of olive oil, depending on how things look – you are going for a nice green smooth consistency. Don’t pulverize beyond recognition. The finished product should have a rustic yumminess.

Taste by eating some with a spoon… Set aside covered while pasta cooks.

Prepare the tomatoes and the feta.

Drain pasta when done, pour into a large serving bowl and add pesto. You should have about 2/3 of a cup.

Stir pesto in until pasta is coated.

Toss in tomatoes and feta cheese and fold in. Taste and adjust with salt and pepper if desired.

Dish will hold covered for about 1 hour, and can be served warm or at room temperature. If it looks a little dry before serving add a touch of olive oil and stir through.