I love these so much because they are bagel sandwiches but like also grilled cheese. It is packed with crispy bacon, pesto eggs, tomato and other good stuff. Pesto eggs were a thing before chili oil eggs were a thing on TikTok. They are just eggs cooked with pesto sauce. My favorite bagel of all time is blueberry but I used a cinnamon raisin bagel for this recipe. So pick out your favorite bagel and make this recipe even more fun.
Some tips for a great grilled cheese:
- Low heat is your best friend when making grilled cheese.
- Do not recommend going higher than a level 4 on the stove top.
- Wrap the pan you’re using for your grilled cheese with foil. You can also use a lid if the pan has one.
You can remix this bagel grilled cheese however you like-you can use cheddar, Gouda, or Jack Monterey. Fresh block cheese is better because it is not coated with the stuff like the pre-shredded packaged cheeses. Block cheese is what will give you that awesome cheese pull we all love. You can check out my jalapeño grilled cheese recipe which uses grated cheddar for inspiration.
Like any grilled cheese, this is best served on the day it is made. Grilled cheese sandwiches do not taste great the next day so don’t bother storing leftovers.
Ingredients
4 bacon rashers, cut into half
2 tablespoons pesto sauce (You can use store-bought or make it from scratch)
4 large eggs
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
1 tablespoon fresh or dried chives
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper or black pepper
1 tomato, thinly sliced
2 bagels, cut in half
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 cup grated mozzarella or cheddar cheese
Instructions
- Cut two bagels in half and set aside.
- Fry the bacon rashers on both sides in a frying pan (with no oil) until they get crispy and browned.
- Take the bacon out of the pan and place on paper towels. Blot them with more paper towels to remove the excess grease.
- Drain the pan which you used to cook the bacon and lower the heat. Place spoonfuls of pesto sauce on the same skillet which you used to fry the bacon.
- Immediately crack all the eggs onto the pesto sauce (spread out) and season with pepper, chives and basil.
- You dont really need salt here because bacon is very salty and pesto sauce is also kind of salty.
- Flip the eggs once they are done to your liking. Turn off the heat and cut the pesto eggs into squares.
- Spread 1 tablespoon of mayonnaise on one of the bagel halves. Add the cheese, then the tomato slice, half the amount of pesto eggs, 4 fried bacon rashers and a handful of grated cheese.
- Then take another bagel top and spread it with another tablespoon of mayonnaise. Place this on the bagel half in step 8 to form a sandwich.
- Repeat steps 8 and 9 for the remaining bagel halves.
- Place the bagels in a greased hot frying pan (you could use the same one that you used to fry the pesto eggs). Cover the pan with aluminum foil (wear oven mitts to avoid burns).
- Place a heavy object like a brick or cast-iron skillet on top of the foil. Cook the bagels for about 5 minutes, flip and continue cooking on the stove until all the cheese has melted.
- Serve warm and enjoy!