VIRGIN TIPIn our house breakfast with the girls tends to be cereal or porridge, but from time to time it’s nice to treat yourself to a cooked breakfast. When I was growing up I would always have a bacon sandwich at the weekends as a treat before heading to tennis lessons (I have photo evidence of some truly awful shell suits!). So I’ve always craved bacon sandwiches, but after playing around with some leftover ingredients one morning at home I created this stonking sandwich. Sausage chunks and bacon with brown sauce and a tomato-avocado medley fused together with melted cheese on seeded bread … absolutely gorgeous.
READY IN 20 MINUTES
SERVES 4
olive oil, for frying
8 rashers of bacon
8 sausages, cut into chunks with kitchen scissors
2 ripe avocados
2 tomatoes, seeds removed and flesh diced
8 slices of seeded brown bread
butter for spreading
200g Cheddar cheese, grated
brown sauce
salt and pepper
1. Drizzle a small quantity of olive oil into a large frying pan, add the bacon and sausages and cook together over a medium heat, stirring from time to time, until the sausages are cooked through and browned all over, 7–10 minutes. Remove from the pan and drain on kitchen paper. Drain the excess oil from the pan and when safe to do so wipe clean with some more kitchen paper.
2. Meanwhile, scoop the avocado flesh into a bowl and mash. Stir through the tomatoes and season with salt and pepper.
3. Now you are ready to assemble your first sandwich. Take one slice of bread and butter one side only. Turn it over and sprinkle the non-buttered side with grated cheese. Carefully spread some of the avocado mixture on top, place two bacon strips over that and a quarter of the cooked sausage pieces. Add a little brown sauce, then finish with another sprinkle of grated cheese. Butter one side of a second slice of bread.
4. Warm the frying pan over a low heat and lift the sandwich into the pan with the butter side facing down. Place the other slice of bread on top with the butter side facing up and press lightly with a metal spatula. Cook for 3–4 minutes until browned underneath then carefully flip over and brown the other side. Remove from the heat and repeat to make three more sandwiches. Serve with a fresh splodge of brown sauce.
VIRGIN TIP
Pressing down with the spatula will help meld the ingredients together – when you first build the sandwich it will look too high, but pressing down will compact it during cooking and then the melted cheese will hold it all together.