Pesto Burgers

It’s like summer time in a burger! Yummy basil pesto throughout a perfectly grilled burger with melty mozzarella cheese. I don’t need to explain! Pesto Burgers my be your new fav!

Who else is watching the Olympics? I am glued, well at least to the tennis and the swimming! Holy cow! I can quite honestly say that I have NEVER seen such amazing tennis as being played at these games, no grand slam has ever been this exciting! Maybe the players are playing for their country first instead of money or maybe the pressure to play for their country instead of money is making them play better. Who knows, it has just been fun to watch! I also love that they have aired all the matches. Singles, doubles and mixed doubles. You rarely see this during grand slams, so it’s a nice change to see it all! If you are not into tennis, you should at least watch the round one match between Del Protro (number 147 in the world) and Djokovich (number 1 in the world). This game was so intense and the athleticism was so incredible between these two players that you will be hard pressed not to watch the whole thing. Both men were in tears at the end. Wow! So as the Olympic tennis comes to an end today, the last chance for the Americans to win a gold and a silver in mixed doubles is happening in a few minutes! Yep, four Americans playing each other! So we are guaranteed both! That’s pretty exciting. I’d be silly if I didn’t mention the swimming and gymnastics but do I really? Dang! Michael Phelps is such a rock star and the gymnastics team is awe inspiring! Great job to all the athletes and GO USA!! Keep wracking up the medals! You sure do deserve it!

I had a super busy work week and it seems as though my basil plants were busy getting huge (again)! So round two for the pesto making this summer! Yeah for me, I’m getting a nice stock pile of the green goodness for this winter! Anyway, I was trying to think of something else to make with pesto instead of the go to pasta dish and I have been trying to eat “of my freezer” to use up things so that I can make room for the green chilies that will be coming soon! I found both a bunch of burger and ground turkey and thought that pesto with either of those meats would be a good way to incorporate it into a yummy burger. Yep, it worked! Just a little pesto and a few other ingredients to kick it up a little more, made a different type of burger! A yummy one for sure topped it off with some melty fresh mozzarella cheese! It’s super easy to put together for a week night dinner or your next backyard barbecue!

Enjoy!

Pesto Burger

Recipe Type: Main Course

Author: Heather Blake

Summertime is great for making pesto and it’s delicious in a burger. You can freeze any left over pesto.

Ingredients

1 pound 80/20 hamburger
1/2 cup pesto
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp garlic powder
Fresh mozzarella cheese slices
hamburger buns, toasted
[br][b]For the Pesto[/b][br]
4 cups basil leaves
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
2-3 garlic cloves
1/4 nuts (I use almonds but pine nuts or walnuts also good)
pinch of salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 cup olive oil

Instructions

To make the pesto, put basil, cheese, garlic cloves, nuts, salt and pepper in a blender or food processor. Turn on high and slowly add olive oil until it becomes thick. Set aside.
To make the burgers, in a medium sized bowl combine the hamburger, pesto, salt, pepper and garlic powder until it is well incorporated. Form into four patties.
Heat the grill to a medium heat. Cook the burgers for 5 minutes and flip. Place the cheese on the patties and cook for another 3-4 minutes or until cooked to your liking.
Place the burgers and the buns and serve with extra pesto and what ever other toppings that you like.

Notes

I also made this recipe with ground turkey. If you use turkey, add 1/4 cup of bread crumbs to the mix.