Grilled Caprese Burger

I am not one that usually likes burgers, but recently that is all I have had on the brain. Grilled with a big ole side of mustard… Yummmm… But I wanted to change it up a bit and add some flavor to the inside of the burger. I mean why just season things on the outside. Imparting flavor and ingredients on the inside takes the burger to a whole new level. So I came up with the Caprese Burger. Italian inspired through and through. It is one of my favorite salads so why not make it in to a burger.

Here is what you need:

Laura’s Lean Ground beef or other ground meat

Red Gold Tomato Paste

Mozzarella that comes in a block

Basil leaves

Favorite Italian Seasoning

Season the hamburger with your favorite Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper and work the seasoning throughout the meat. Take a small amount of the meat, say about half of what you would want for a whole hamburger. Pat it out until flat “circle”. Place a teaspoon up to a tablesppon of Red Gold tomato paste in the center of the circle. Place a small cube of the mozzarella on top of the tomato paste and then a couple of fresh basil leaves. Take another amount of meat and make another circle the same size of your base meat. Pinch the sides together making sure there are no holes so that the inside ingredients stay inside and not all over your grill.

I was going to cook the burgers outside, but by the time I got around to making them it was 100+ degrees outside, no thanks. So I took out a heavy duty pan and pan grilled them inside the house making sure to turn my vent hood on because those babies were smoking 🙂 Tell me they don’t just make your mouth water. One tip I have for you: with stuffing your burgers sometimes the insides won’t get done as much, so add a little water to the pan then cover with a lid so that the burgers steam and get cooked fully through.

There are several ways you can serve them: on a traditional bun, open faced on a bun, or like I did on a bed of spinach. I topped the burger with just a little dab of ricotta because you can never have too much cheese, then drizzled the whole thing with balsamic vinegar. It is like having the real Caprese Salad but with meat! I almost forgot, You could also place it over some polenta for a hearty soul satisfying dish.

Summer time means grilling time. What have you made this summer on your grill?

For the third year, Red Gold will be hosting its popular Red Gold Summer Grillin’ Party that runs June 24th – July 22nd on its Facebook page. Red Gold will give away a Large Big Green Egg each week, as well as 1,000 insulated tote bags.