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Pizza Burgers

Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 25 minutes
Servings 4
Author Margaret Bose Johnson

Ingredients

for the pizza sauce:

  • 1¼ cups (300 ml) good quality marinara sauce, purchased or homemade
  • ½ teaspoon dried oregano
  • ¼ teaspoon garlic powder

for the burger patties:

  • 1 lb (454 g) lean ground beef
  • 1 large egg
  • ½ cup (50 g) finely grated Parmesan cheese
  • ¼ cup (25 g) fine dry bread crumbs, gluten-free, if necessary
  • 1 clove garlic, pressed or finely minced
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  • ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
  • ¼ teaspoon dried chili flakes/red pepper flakes (or ½ teaspoon black pepper)
  • ¼ cup pizza sauce (see recipe above)
  • 8 thick slices pizza mozzarella cheese or fresh mozzarella cheese
  • olive oil

to assemble the burgers:

  • 16 slices pepperoni (150 g)
  • 4 hamburger buns, gluten-free if necessary
  • 1 cup pizza sauce (see recipe above)
  • fresh baby spinach leaves
  • thinly sliced onions, fresh or sautéed
  • 4 sprigs fresh basil (or 12-16 leaves), optional

Instructions

make the pizza sauce:

  • Stir together the marinara sauce, ½ teaspoon oregano, and garlic powder. Set aside for the flavours to blend while you prepare the other ingredients.

make the pizza burger patties:

  • Place the ground beef, egg, Parmesan cheese, bread crumbs, garlic, oregano, salt, and chili flakes into a large bowl. Measure out ¼ cup (4 tablespoons/60 ml) of the prepared pizza sauce and add it to the meat ingredients. Mix everything together with your hands until it is well combined. Form the beef mixture into 4 large patties, about ¾-inch (2 cm) thick. Make an indent in the center of each patty to keep it from bulging up while cooking.
  • Heat a bit of olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Cook the pizza burger patties until lightly browned on the bottom, 3 to 4 minutes. Flip the patties, top each one with two slices of mozzarella cheese, and continue to cook them until the other side is nicely browned, the burgers are cooked through, and the cheese is just melted. If the cheese isn't melting and the burgers are almost cooked, cover the skillet with a lid or baking sheet for the last minute or so to help melt the cheese.
  • While the burger patties are cooking, heat up a second skillet, add a little bit of olive oil, and fry the pepperoni slices, in batches, until they are lightly browned and just crisping a bit at the edges. Don't fry them too long, as they will continue to crisp up after they are cooked. You want them still nicely pliable, like bacon slices. Set them aside to keep warm.
  • When the pepperoni slices are finished, add a bit more olive oil to the skillet, and fry the buns, cut-side-down, to lightly crisp them up, until they are just golden.

to assemble the pizza burgers:

  • Drizzle a little bit of olive oil onto the bottom half of each grilled bun. Then spread each bottom half with about 2 tablespoons of the remaining pizza sauce.
  • Pinch the stems off the spinach leaves, and layer a small handful of leaves on top of the pizza sauce.
  • Lay the cheese-topped burger patty on top of the spinach.
  • Arrange 4 slices of sautéed pepperoni on each burger.
  • Top that with some fresh or fried onion slices and a sprig of basil (or a few large leaves).
  • Spread the cut side of each top bun half with another 2 tablespoons of pizza sauce and slide it on top of the pizza burger stack.
  • Pass out lots of napkins and enjoy immediately.

Notes

Alternately - you can grill the burger patties, pepperoni slices, and buns on the barbecue or grill.
Want more heat? Increase the dried chili flakes in the burgers to your taste.
Customize the pizza burger toppings to your taste: add sliced sautéed mushrooms or roasted peppers, anchovies, fresh tomato slices, lettuce, etc. Add spicy pepperoncini pickles or capers. Try different melting cheeses like fontina, havarti, or Monterey Jack.