Burger quest number three! Figured there should be a beef burger in the mix right? But there are so many great burger recipes floating through the cyber world how can anyone possibly create something remotely new and different? Short answer is I don’t think it can be done!
Not to be discouraged, I decided to forge ahead and try leaning toward Italian; sort of. I’m partial to cheese in or on my burgers and I’ve used mozzarella (yummy) cheddar (also yummy) a combo of the two (yummy and you can use non fat grated cheese for a lower fat version) and blue cheese (too strong and not yummy). Ricotta came to mind with double purpose; mild cheesy flavor and definitely would make the burger super moist; I hoped.
That was a viable start but there needed to be some kind of flavor kick. Now Filippo is NOT a fan of spicy food and since these burgers are also dinner, I had to find something that would pack a flavor punch without being “spicy”.
Here is what I tried and ….well they were amazingly moist, flavorful and deemed a keeper! Since there is tomato sauce in the patty meat we tried them without ketchup to start and they were perfect for our tastes but you decide for yourself. I hope you enjoy!
Ingredients:
Ingredients for 4 burgers:
1 pound to 1 1/3 pounds lean ground beef ( I use 90/10)
4 T. tomato sauce
½ red onion chopped
4 slices hardwood smoked bacon
1/3 cup ricotta
¼ t. salt
¼ t. pepper
4 burger buns
4 slices tomato
Crisp lettuce leaves
Instructions:
Method:
1. In large pan fry bacon until crisp
2. Crumble bacon and set aside in medium bowl
3. Sauté onion in bacon pan until slightly browned
4. Add onions to bacon
5. Add tomato sauce, ricotta, salt, pepper and ground beef.
6. Mix gently an form 4 patties
7. Drain bacon fat from pan leaving the browned bits to flavor the burgers
8. Fry burgers about 3 minutes then flip and cook until desired doneness.
9. Place lettuce on burger bun bottoms, then patty, then tomatoes
10. Top with upper half of bun and serve
