Saturday, January 5, 2013

Mediterranean Beef Burgers

This is another recipe I got from the Hairy Dieters book - which I have to say is still yet to disappoint. This is a perfect recipe for a saturday night dinner, either for a family or when you have people over for a casual dinner and a few drinks. The burgers are 11pp on their own, so while its fine if all the sides you have are 0, I personally think they are a bit high for a midweek dinner. On a Saturday I generally only have 2 meals - brunch and dinner and have a few more disposable points for a bit of an indulgent dinner. The recipe calls for grated courgette to be added to the mince, which I was skeptical of. But at this stage I really should know not to question the hairy dieters because it made the mince go further for bigger burgers, and while you couldn't taste it exactly, it definitely kept the burgers moist. I also got an airfryer for christmas, so I paired my burger with 250g of chips per person and a bit of ketchup and mayo for an extra 6pp.

Serves 4
Propoints per serving: 11
Ingredients:



1 small courgette
1 medium onion
400g lean beef steak mince
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried basil
1 tbsp sundried tomato paste or tomato puree
1 tsp sunflower oil
4  small ciabatta rolls
100g light mozzarella, drained
2 large ripe vine tomatoes
fresh basil leaves
balsamic vinegar (i didn't use this)
salt and pepper


Coarsely grate the courgette and the onion and place in a mixing bowl. Add the mince, garlic, oregano, basil and tomato puree and season well. Mix throughly until everything is combined.

Divide the mixture into 4 even sized patties about 2cm think. At this point you could freeze the burgers uncooked and just defrost throughly before cooking. As I was only cooking for 2, I made the second half of the mixture into meatballs that I have frozen for an easy midweek dinner.

Brush the oil over a non stick frying pan and place over a low heat. Fry the burgers for about 10 mins or until nicely browned and cooked through, turning halfway through cooking time. Preheat the grill to the hottest setting. Cut the ciabatta in half and place under the hot grill until lightly toasted.

When the burgers are cooked, place the on the grill tray and top with the mozzarella and grill for a couple of minutes until the cheese has melted.

Put the tomato and basil on the bottom half of the roll and drizzle with the balsamic vinegar and some freshly ground black pepper. Top with the burger and serve immediately.

I was too eagar to eat and forgot to take photos - but they looked as delicious as they tasted!! 

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