May Honorable Mention Recipe - Bacon, Pimento and Sun Dried Tomato Stack

Belli amici! Cooks and chefs! Food lovers! 

I was strolling through the park one day, in the very merry month of May…when I was taken by surprise…by an amazing recipe that has become this month’s recipe contest honorable mention winner! GREAT job, home chef Julie Love! Congratulations! Your Bacon, Pimento and Sun Dried Tomato Stack is DELICIOUS! You’ll receive a big Bella Sun Luci gift box full of our products so you can work up a new recipe and hopefully win next year!

This recipe is actually, if you ask me, an open face sandwich on ciabatta toast. By the way, a ciabatta in English is a “slipper”. They must think that ciabatta bread is in the shape of a slipper. This dish, like all great dishes…lasagna, cheeseburger, Caesar salad, etc…is a whole greater than the sum of its parts. It just goes…melts, in fact…together. The bacon, pimento spread and sun dried tomatoes are nicely contrasted by the crunch of the arugala and bread. This might just be an instant classic!

It’s so very cool that one of the elements of this dish, the “gourmet pimento cheese spread” is, whether by design or coincidence, a recipe on the back of our bag of Zesty Pepper Ready to Eat Sun Dried Tomatoes Julienne Cut. Pick up a bag at a grocer near you.

Like chef Julie says at the end of the recipe, “Makes a beautiful appetizer that is a crowd pleaser!”

Now, everybody, get cooking, please send in your recipes (the deadline is July 1), buon appetito, happy primavera (springtime)…once again…happy my birthday (which is in may, wink wink) and arrivederci. Until we meet again.

Con amore,

Chef Richie

Ingredients

• 1 loaf ciabatta bread, sliced thin (some bakeries will do this for you)
• 3 Tablespoons Bella Sun Luci Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 2-3 large garlic cloves
• 6 slices bacon, thick cut, or 12 slices thin cut
• 1/2 recipe of Southwest Sun Dried Tomato Dip, with a 4 oz jar pimentos added to make it a pimento spread (The recipe is on the back of the bag of Bella Sun Luci Sun Dried Tomatoes with Zesty Peppers Julienne-Cut, or, use 12+ ounces pimento cheese spread)
• 1 cup arugala
• 1 8.5 oz jar Bella Sun Luci Sun Dried Tomato Halfes in Olive Oil with Italian Herbs, oil drained and mixed into the 3 TB of olive oil above
• Salt and pepper to taste (you won’t need much, or any, salt)

Directions 

1. Preheat the oven to 350.
2. On baking trays (parchment lined is recommended), spread out the slices of ciabatta. Brush or drizzle with olive oil, bake for 10-15 minutes until crisp then rub each slice with a garlic clove. Set aside.
3. While the bread is baking, cut the bacon into 2-inch wide pieces and cook (on the stovetop or in the oven) until crispy. Remove the bacon grease (save for another day) and set the bacon aside.
4. Cut or break the toasts into same-width pieces, about 2 inches.
5. Spread each piece with pimento spread, add a pinch of arugala, add a piece or 2 of bacon and top with a sun dried tomato half (you can cut the halves in half or into slices, to stretch your quantity).