Friday, May 8, 2009

Bruschetta Burgers with Fresh Ground Tri-tip



I like to grind my own meat in the food processor. I feel I have more control over what I’m using and what the end result will be. These burgers are one of those “Omgosh! Munch chomp chew don’t bother me I’m inhaling something amazing” experiences.

Bruschetta topping
1 or 2 ripe tomatoes
1 clove garlic, minced
Palmful of chopped fresh basil
Palmful of chopped fresh Italian parsley
1/4th cup grated Pecorino Romano cheese
1 Tablespoon basil or regular olive oil
Salt & fresh cracked pepper

Mix all the ingredients together except salt. Add salt right before topping the burgers so the tomatoes don’t get watery. Set aside.

Patties
2 pounds Tri-tip steaks, with a strip of fat on the side preferably.
1 cup grated Pecorino Romano cheese
¼ cup finally chopped onion
Palmful of chopped fresh Italian flat leaf parsley
Palmful of chopped fresh basil
1 Tablespoon basil or regular olive oil
Salt & fresh cracked pepper

Ingredients for assembly
6 thin slices unsmoked deli ham
1 cup grated Italian or regular fontina
1 loaf French bread, cut diagonally into 12 slices
Extra virgin olive oil

Instructions
Pre-heat the grill to medium high.

Bring the steaks to room temperature. Grind ¼ of them at a time in a food processer, using the metal blade attachment. You’re looking for meat that is shredded without big pieces.

Place the meat in a large bowl and add the rest of the patty ingredients. Mix gently with your hands. Press together until it sticks well enough, then press into patties. The trick here is to press enough to stick together, but not to overwork the meat. Make 6 patties.

Cook the burgers until grill marks form, flip once and cook until almost done. Top with the fontina & ham and finish cooking.

Brush one side of the bread with olive oil. Grill the olive oil side until grill marks form. Place the patties on the uncooked side of a bread slice. Salt the bruschetta topping and spoon over the top of the patties. Top with another slice of grilled bread.

Serves 6.

Recipe by Laura Flowers


21 comments:

Ginger said...

Laura these are probably to the best looking and best sounding burgers that I have ever heard of. They should be on the menu of a "famous" restaurant. My food processer broke! :-(

JA U KUHINJI... said...

predivno...

JA U KUHINJI... said...

predivno=wonderful :)

Sherri Murphy said...

Wow! Are you sure this is just a burger?
You've outdone yourself.

Jeanine - The Baking Beauties said...

Oh. My. Goodness.
That is the most amazing looking burger I've ever seen! Fantastic! Love that you grind your own meat. I have a food processor, I've never thought of doing that! How exactly do you do that with the food processor? Chop it with the blades, or use the shredder? now you've got me thinking...

The Cooking Photographer said...

With the blade Jeanine. I'll go write it in right now. Thanks!

The Cooking Photographer said...

Thank-you for the comments everyone. You all get here before I even wake up! It's always fun to see what you've written here.

Thank-you.

The Cooking Photographer said...

Ginger you can't live without a food processor! Nooooooo.

Carrie said...

Woah, this looks incredible! I've never seen a burger like this, but it's an amazing idea. I bet this would be great with some goat cheese thrown in, too. I am going to have to make this over the summer!

Esi said...

The burgers sound great and I love that bruschetta topping as an alternative to the usual fixings!

Marta said...

I stopped buying ground beef after I had the following conversation with the butcher:
Me: sir, would you mind grinding this sirloid steak for me?
Butcher: why would you do that? you'll waste your money because half of it will stay in the grinder!
Me: well, what's in your ground beef?
Butcher: trust me... you don't want to know *chuckles*

From that day on, I grind my own beef and don't care about the price!
This looks great, awesome idea to top it with bruschetta topping :)

The Cooking Photographer said...

Omgosh Marta! I am so glad you posted that, I am further convinced. Wow lol!

Patricia @ ButterYum said...

Laura, why do you torture me so?

The Cooking Photographer said...

Hey I was just thinking about you and wondering where you've been!

Michelle said...

UMMMM... can you please come to my house and make these PRONTO!

Coleens Recipes said...

I am not a big meat eater, however, this sandwich really hit my fancy!! I'd love one for dinner tonight.

Sam said...

It looks delicious. I'm thinking about turning your patties into little meatballs for my pasta tonight.

The Cooking Photographer said...

That sounds like a good idea Sam. I hope they turn out well. Maybe add some bread crumbs in there?

Jeanine - The Baking Beauties said...

Thanks for the answer. I just re-read your post before reading the comments, and saw that it had the blade information in there. Then I thought I must have missed it. lol
Thanks! I'm going to have to give this a try with a few kinds of meats. I've always wanted to try recipes with ground chicken, but am scared to see what they throw in the grinder for that. :(

Elizabeth said...

Wow, this look so elegant!

cookies and cups said...

These look great! Never thought to do that with bruschetta...will definitely try this!

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