Recipe: Tomato Jam & a BLT Sandwich

So here’s a nice twist on the usual BLT sandwich: bacon, lettuce and tomato jam sandwich with goat cheese. I’ve had something similar while I was away in Ottawa and the idea of it has been following me ever since – I had to make it home, but first I needed tomato jam! After searching the web for various tomato jam recipes I found a few and took them to my kitchen, to experiment and here’s what I came up with. [If you are not up for making your own tomato jam, try a store-bought variety instead, but I would highly recommend trying this fun BLT.]

Tomato Jam
Makes 2 cups

Adapted from Food52

Ingredients:
2.5 - 3 lbs tomatoes, peeled and coarsely chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1 half bell pepper, diced
½ cup brown sugar
1 tsp salt
¼ tsp ground coriander
¼ tsp ground cumin
¼ tsp crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
2 tbsp champagne vinegar
Juice of ½ lemon



Preparation:
In a heavy saucepan combine the ingredients and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer, stirring often, about 2.5 – 3 hours until thickened and reduced to a jam-like consistency. Ladle cooked tomato jam into clean jam jars and store in the fridge; it will keep for up to two weeks.

[*To peel tomatoes, boil a pot of water. Slice a shallow “x” into the bottom of tomato. Place tomatoes into boiling water and let them boil for about 25 – 30 seconds, then place into the bowl of iced water to cool them, then peel.]

Links:
Sweet & Savory Tomato Jam by Jennifer Perillo @ Food52
Tomato Jam @ Bon Appétit
Mark Bittman's Tomato Jam @ The Wednesday Chef

BLT:
Servings 2

Ingredients:
4 slices white bread
8 strips of bacon, cooked
2 tsp creamy goat cheese
4 tsp tomato jam
2 – 4 lettuce leaves

Preparation:
Cook bacon until crisp, drain on paper towels. Toast the bread. Spread two slices of bread with goat cheese and the other two slices with tomato jam. Assemble the sandwich: add four bacon strips to each goat cheese-spreaded toast, then lettuce and cover with the tomato jam-spreaded toast. Serve and enjoy. Voilà!