I currently have over forty ripe tomatoes sitting on the floor in my office. So when I found out that Andrea over at Heavy Petal had issued a Tomato Recipe Challenge, I had to send a recipe in.

I didn’t end up winning the challenge (dang!), but I thought I’d share this very worthy sandwich with you anyways. It is the meaty cousin of a vegetarian sandwich my friend Emily invented this summer. Her version contains all the of the goodies in this recipe (with the exception of the bacon), plus yellow bell pepper and purslane. Yum!

As much as I liked Em’s sandwich, I couldn’t help thinking that bacon would make an excellent addition. It does. Big time.

Tomato Bacon Sandwich
I don’t eat much bacon, but when I do, I buy Wooly Pig’s bacon at my local farmer’s market. It is the best bacon on the planet. And Thomas Keller agrees with me. He ships this bacon to California and serves it at the French Laundry. If you can’t have Wooly Pig bacon, settle for thick cut slices that are free of nitrates, fillers, and other junk.

You’ll need:
2 slices good sourdough bread
Olive oil
½ of an avocado
2 tablespoons crème fraiche (or sour cream)
4 slices bacon
1 large beefsteak tomato
1 ball fresh mozzarella, sliced into four pieces
Salt
Pepper

Instructions:
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with tinfoil and lay out each slice of bacon on the sheet. Bake until crispy, about 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and drain the bacon on a double layer of paper towels.  I always cook bacon this way. No splattering. No flipping. No fuss.

Lightly toast two slices of sourdough bread. Drizzle each slice with your best extra virgin olive oil.

In a small bowl, mash the avocado with the crème fraiche and a bit of kosher salt until smooth. Spread the avocado liberally on one slice of the bread. Layer the bacon slices over the avocado. Cut the tomato into ½ inch thick slices and place three or four of them on the bacon. Top the tomato with the mozzarella. Sprinkle on a good dose of salt and ground pepper.

Place the second slice of bread—olive oil side down—over the cheese. Slice the sandwich in half. Devour immediately.