The Ultimate American Lamb Burger
Servings:
12
12
Prep Time:
1 hr.
1 hr.
Cook Time:
25 mins.
25 mins.
Ingredients
- 3 pounds lean American lamb, ground or minced
- 6 large eggs, beaten
- 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- ¾ cup feta cheese, crumbled
- ¾ cup finely ground bread crumbs
- 1 cup sour cream
- 3 tablespoons lamb spice
- 6 tablespoons chopped fresh mint
- 3 tablespoons paprika
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- ¾ teaspoon ground black pepper
- Dash sea salt, to taste
- 12 black olive rolls, sliced
- 1½ cups brown sugar
- 1½ cups vinegar
- ¾ teaspoon turmeric
- ¾ teaspoon mustard seed
- 6 roasted red peppers, finely diced
- 18 plum tomatoes, skinned, deseeded, cored and diced
- 6 shallots, minced
- 2 medium eggplant
- 3 large eggs, beaten
- ½ cup buttermilk
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons minced fresh basil
- 1½ cups all-purpose flour
- Dash salt and pepper, to taste
- 1 cup finely ground bread crumbs
- Salad oil, as needed for frying
- 1 ½ cups ricotta
- 1 cup thickened cream
- 1 cup finely chopped fresh mint
Preparation
- Mix all burger ingredients in a bowl and form the mixture into 12 burgers and let rest.
- To make relish, in a saucepan, dissolve the sugar in the vinegar. Add the turmeric and mustard seed. Bring to a boil; add peppers, tomatoes and shallots, and continue cooking for 8 minutes. Remove from heat.
- Peel the eggplants and cut them into twelve 1/2-inch-thick slices. Salt the eggplant lightly on both sides and let sit for 20 minutes. Rinse the slices and dry well. In a shallow bowl combine the eggs, buttermilk, oil and basil. In another bowl add the flour and season it with salt and pepper. Dip the eggplant slices in the flour and then dip in egg mixture. Dredge the eggplant in the bread crumbs. Cover the slices well and let them sit for 2 minutes.
- Fry slowly in a skillet with hot oil until eggplant is browned on one side and rather transparent. Turn over and brown on the other side. Remove from heat.
- To make ricotta cream, combine the ricotta cheese, cream and mint.
- Grill the burgers until desired doneness (medium is recommended). Place one eggplant slice and then the relish on a black olive roll bottom. Place one burger on top and top with the Minted Ricotta Cream and black olive roll top.
Source: American Lamb Board
