Eggless Pork & Veal Burgers With Balsamic Red Onion & Caper Relish!

I had a lot of fresh sage from my sage plant. I wanted to make burgers with it. I served them with a lovely balsamic red onions & capers relish with it. I didn’t use an egg & no panko breadcrumbs either in the burgers to make them a lot healthier & a bit more lightly. This is what I made!

Recipe: For 5 patties, 5 flatter burgers, each 7cm x 8 cm

Ingredients:

** For the burgers:

320 gr of pork & veal mince

1 large white onion, peeled & cut into 4

2 fat cloves of garlic, peeled & cut into 4

10 large fresh sage leaves, cleaned, washed & pad dry on kitchen paper, cut into smaller pieces

1/2 teaspoon of fennel seeds

a fruity EVOO

Maldon sea salt flakes

black pepper

** For the balsamic red onions & capers relish:

3 or 4 medium red onions, peeled & sliced into thinner wedges

1 heaped tablespoon of small salted capers, well rinsed under water & well-drained

2 tablespoons of a good aged balsamic vinegar

** To serve:

4 of your favourite bread rolls, sliced open

tomato ketchup, I prefer Heinz fresh rocket ( arugula leaves )

some good beer to enjoy with the burgers!

Method:

1. Take a food processor & add the onion pieces, garlic pieces, sage pieces, the mince & the fennel seeds & blitz it all finely up. Mix it until it all comes together. Taste. Add some Maldon sea salt flakes & some grinds of black pepper. Taste again. It has to taste special & lovely!

2. Take a large clean plate & wet your hands. Make about 5 larger patties, flatter burgers out of the mince mix, with the help of your hands. It will stick a bit but it works. I can make 5 burgers , each 7 cm X 8 cm out of them. Place them a bit apart, together on a big plate. Place cling film over the top & place into the fridge for about 2 to 3 hours to firm up. When you want to fry them later, this way they will be easier to handle because there is no egg & no panko breadcrumbs in it to hold it all together. But I assure you, it will work!

3. About 15 minutes before dinner, make the relish. Also, take the plate with the burgers out of the fridge. remove the cling film. Take a large non-stick pan & heat up on medium heat. When hot, add drizzles of the fruity EVOO. Add the red onions wedges & the drained capers. Fry for about 5 minutes & add the balsamic vinegar. Now, add some grinds of black pepper & only a bit of sea salt flakes. Fry for about 10 minutes or until it all is coocked through & caramelized. Keep warm. When the relish is nearly ready, fry the burgers. Take a large non-stick pan & heat up on high. Add a few drizzles of the fruity EVOO & heat up. When hot & sizzling, add the burgers & fry for about 3 to 4 minutes per side. The burgers will not fall apart! When the fried side is golden brown, flip the burger carefully over & fry for another 3 to 4 minutes on the other side. Check with a sewing pin if the mince is well cooked through.

4. When the burger are ready, take your open sliced bread rolls & smear ketchup on both insides. On the bottom half, lay rocket leaves all over the base on top of the ketchup. Then, add 1 or 2 tablespoons of the relish on top of the rocket leaves, add the juicy burger & top with the tomato ketchup smeared bread roll top.

MMM…I assure you,…you want more!

You can find tho tasty recipe also here on my blog: http://sophiesfoodiefiles.wordpress.com/2010/05/11/sophies-eggless-pork-veal-sage-bugers-served-with-a-balsamic-red-onions-capers-relish/