I eat a lot of burgers and occasionally the traditional ground beef patty topped with Cheddar cheese, lettuce and tomato on a bun gets boring. It’s times like these that I try to create something new burger-wise. In the past I’ve come up with things like the Bacon Weave Brat Burger and thePoutine Burger. This time I decided to try my hand at a lasagna burger.
For the lasagna burger patty I used the same 50/50 mix of ground beef and ground Italian sausage that I used when I made my deep fried lasagna. I originally planned on grilling up a regular-shaped round patty and using two slices of Italian bread in lieu of a bun, but there’s this great bakery here in Milwaukee called Peter Sciortino’s that makes the best hoagie style Italian rolls ever, so I decided to use one of those and make my burger into more of an oval shape instead.
I guess my bun choice and longer burger patty sort of made this into more of a lasagna sandwich than a lasagna burger, but when you have something this good sitting in front of you it’s pretty pointless to debate something as trivial as what distinguishes something as a sandwich versus what makes it a burger.
Once my burger patty was done on the grill I topped it with mozzarella cheese and then assembled my sandwich by adding mozzarella cheese, a couple lasagna noodles, tomato sauce and some ricotta cheese. Then, just as sort of the icing on the cake I put the burger on a pizza stone and baked it in my oven for a few minutes.
Overall I was pretty pleased with how my lasagna burger turned out. The patty ended up weighing in at a little over a pound, which might have been a bit excessive, but then again it had to be long enough to fit on the hoagie roll. I mean, I guess I could have just eaten half of the burger and saved the other half for later, but where’s the fun in that? – Visit this website
ingredients
- 1 1/2 pounds ground beef, pork and veal mix
- Salt and pepper
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 small onion, finely chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1 14 1/2 ounce can Italian crushed tomatoes
- 1 handful basil leaves, shredded or torn
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 1 cup milk
- A few grates nutmeg
- 1/2 cup ricotta cheese
- 1/4 cup parmigiano-reggiano cheese
- 4 hamburger or ciabatta rolls
directions
- In a large bowl, season the meat with plenty of salt and pepper. Form into 4 patties, thinner in the middle for more even cooking. Drizzle with EVOO.
- In a saucepan, heat 2 tablespoons EVOO, 2 turns of the pan, over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until softened, about 5 minutes; add the garlic and cook for 2 minutes more, then stir in the tomatoes and season with salt and pepper. Lower the heat and simmer for 5 minutes; stir in the basil.
- In large skillet, heat a drizzle of EVOO over medium-high heat. Add the patties and cook, turning once, until medium-rare, 7 to 8 minutes.
- While the patties are cooking, in a small saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat; whisk in the flour for 1 minute, then whisk in the milk. Season with salt, pepper and the nutmeg, then cook until thickened, about 5 minutes. Stir in the ricotta and parmigiano-reggiano.
- Spoon some red sauce on the roll bottoms, then top with the patties. Dollop the cheese sauce on the patties and set the roll tops in place.
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