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Italian Burgers

By America's Test Kitchen

Published on October 13, 2011

Yield

Serves 4

Italian Burgers

Ingredients

¾ pound 85 percent lean ground chuck ¾ pound sweet Italian sausage, casings removed½ cup grated Parmesan cheese ¼ cup thinly sliced fresh basil 2 cloves garlic, minced4 teaspoons Dijon mustard ½ teaspoon table salt ½ teaspoon ground black pepper

Before You Begin

Although we usually enjoy our burgers medium-rare, with extra ingredients added, tasters found that the burgers were too soft unless cooked through (basically, well-done).

Instructions

  1. Break beef and sausage into small pieces in medium bowl. Add cheese, basil, garlic, mustard, salt, and pepper. Using fork, toss until evenly distributed. Divide mixture into 4 equal portions and lightly pack into 1-inch-thick patties.
  2. When coals are ready and grate is hot, dip wad of paper towels in vegetable oil and use tongs to rub oil over grate. Grill burgers over very hot fire, without pressing down on them, until well seared on both sides and cooked through, 8 to 12 minutes. Transfer to plate, tent with foil, and let rest 5 minutes. Serve.
Italian Burgers

Italian Burgers

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By America's Test Kitchen
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Yield

Serves 4

Ingredients

¾ pound 85 percent lean ground chuck
¾ pound sweet Italian sausage, casings removed
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
¼ cup thinly sliced fresh basil
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 teaspoons Dijon mustard
½ teaspoon table salt
½ teaspoon ground black pepper

Ingredients

¾ pound 85 percent lean ground chuck
¾ pound sweet Italian sausage, casings removed
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
¼ cup thinly sliced fresh basil
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 teaspoons Dijon mustard
½ teaspoon table salt
½ teaspoon ground black pepper

Ingredients

¾ pound 85 percent lean ground chuck
¾ pound sweet Italian sausage, casings removed
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
¼ cup thinly sliced fresh basil
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 teaspoons Dijon mustard
½ teaspoon table salt
½ teaspoon ground black pepper

Why This Recipe Works

To keep our Italian Burgers’ toppings from sliding out from beneath the bun, we created a recipe that put them inside the burger, where they couldn’t fall out. We added our recipe’s ingredients straight into the burger mix. Our recipe calls for 85 percent lean ground beef, which kept the burgers from being too greasy. And because the ingredients were mixed into the meat, we found it best to cook the burgers to well-done. The Parmesan cheese kept them from being dry or tough.

Before You Begin

Although we usually enjoy our burgers medium-rare, with extra ingredients added, tasters found that the burgers were too soft unless cooked through (basically, well-done).

Instructions

  1. Break beef and sausage into small pieces in medium bowl. Add cheese, basil, garlic, mustard, salt, and pepper. Using fork, toss until evenly distributed. Divide mixture into 4 equal portions and lightly pack into 1-inch-thick patties.
  2. When coals are ready and grate is hot, dip wad of paper towels in vegetable oil and use tongs to rub oil over grate. Grill burgers over very hot fire, without pressing down on them, until well seared on both sides and cooked through, 8 to 12 minutes. Transfer to plate, tent with foil, and let rest 5 minutes. Serve.

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Appears In

Magazine

June / July 2006

Key Equipment

Equipment

The Best Kitchen Tongs

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