Tastes Like a BLT Tomato Cups

by Michele Pesula Kuegler | August 16th, 2023 | Appetizers, Recipes, Tapas Monday
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Cherry tomatoes stuffed with bacon, lettuce, and cheese

Want to know how to drive your husband crazy?

Cook bacon, and tell him it’s off limits.

Twice.

When I make a recipe for Think Tasty, I cook it at least twice, if not more. The first round of recipe testing involves recording ingredient amounts, baking times, etc. Once complete, I sample the recipe. If it’s good, I ask my husband or anyone in my home for feedback. With double consensus, the recipe will have another round of testing. (It’s my version of one of my dad’s favorite books: Measure Twice, Cut Once.)

The second recipe testing usually takes place on a Friday. I try to cook and test in the morning so I have good lighting for photos. This time I double check the recorded amounts and times to make sure the recipe is correct. If a second batch produces another winner, the recipe will then be added to my list of to be written articles.

Cherry tomatoes stuffed with bacon, lettuce, and cheese

This recipe starts with bacon cooking in the oven. So, I did that twice. As we both work from home, two times my husband came out of his workspace to the aromas of bacon. Sadly, twice he was told that the bacon was being used in a recipe.

Hold on! I’m not really that mean.

Before anyone accuses me of cruelty to my husband, please note that he got to eat almost every one of the final BL Tomato Cups. Yes, I eat one or two to test them, but I usually don’t eat a lot. So, although he was denied the freshly cooked strips of bacon, he got to eat most of it in the final product.

Maybe the question I should have started with was, “How do you make your husband extra happy?”

Cherry tomatoes stuffed with bacon, lettuce, and cheese

Answer: Let him eat most of the BL Tomato Cups.

Another option: make Woven Bacon to top his burger, and see just how happy that makes him.

Cherry tomatoes stuffed with bacon, lettuce, and cheese

BL Tomato Cups

Michele Pesula Kuegler

Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes

Course Appetizer

Servings 16

Ingredients

  

  • 4 strips thick cut bacon
  • 16 cherry tomatoes
  • 2 ounces cream cheese softened
  • 2 teaspoons mayonnaise
  • Black pepper
  • Arugula

Instructions

 

  • Preheat oven to 400°F.
  • Cook bacon on a rimmed baking sheet until crisp, approximately 20 minutes.
  • Drain bacon on paper towels.
  • When bacon has cooled, crumble two of the strips into small pieces. (Should be about 1/4 cup)
  • Cut other two strips of bacon into 1-inch sections.
  • If a cherry tomato can’t sit flat on its bottom, cut the tiniest slice off of the bottom, so the tomato can sit flat in order to be filled.
  • Cut the tops off of the cherry tomatoes.
  • Using a small spoon, such as a 1/2 teaspoon, scrape out the insides of the tomatoes.*
  • Place the tomatoes upside down on a paper towel for 10 minutes.
  • Combine cream cheese and mayonnaise in a small bowl.
  • Season mixture with black pepper, add 1/4 cup crumbled bacon, and stir well.
  • When tomatoes have drained, place 2 arugula leaves in the bottom of each tomato.
  • Fill tomato cup with a hearty teaspoon of cream cheese mixture.
  • Garnish each with one of the bacon sections.

Notes

*Save the tomato tops and insides for another use, such as a salad.

Keyword blt
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