Recipes: Beef

Burgers Stuffed with Goat Cheese, Sun-dried Tomatoes and Basil

Author: Russ Faulk, Kalamazoo Outdoor Gourmet
Servings: 4
Course: Entrees

This burger recipe was my wife's idea. She loves goat cheese and tomato together, and this was her suggestion when I was working on four burgers for the fourth. The melted goat cheese is a welcome surprise when you bite into these burgers.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef sirloin

1/2 pound raw Italian sausage removed from the casing(s)

1/2 teaspoon salt

4 ounces soft goat cheese

3 sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil

3 fresh basil leaves, sliced

8 slices Italian bread, frozen overnight, cut from a loaf approximately 4-5" in diameter

4 cloves garlic

4+ tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Instructions:

Mix the beef, sausage and salt together. Be careful not to over-work the mixture. It can be helpful to coarsely chop the beef and sausage with a knife and then loosely toss together before mixing more thoroughly with the salt.

Divide into four equal 1/2-pound pieces. Remove about 1/5 of each half-pound portion and set the small pieces aside. Use your hands to shape each of the remaining four portions into a "flattened bowl" shape into which you can put the filling.

Remove the sun-dried tomatoes from the oil and slice. Place 1/4 of the goat cheese into each burger, and then top with sun-dried tomatoes and basil.

Flatten each of the four small reserved pieces of burger mixture into flat disks. Place a disk on top of the filling for each burger, and then work the burger mixture closed with your fingers. Flatten the burgers further as much as possible without risking breaking the seal to the stuffing.

Remove the frozen bread slices from the freezer. The bread should be hard. Rub the garlic cloves into one side of each slice of bread. Brush both sides of each slice of bread with the olive oil.

Grill the burgers directly over a medium-high fire for about 5 minutes per side. These burgers must be fully cooked because of the sausage used in the mixture. When the burgers are nearly finished, toast the bread briefly on each side directly over the flame.

Serve the burgers on the toasted bread directly off the grill. They taste great as they are, or with the usual burger toppings.

Try this recipe with sides of Grilled Vegetable Salad with Balsamic Vinaigrette