Caprese Burger

A Caprese salad is traditionally mozzarella, tomato, and basil.  I took a variation of that and put it on top of my burger.  The mozzarella was obviously the cheese, and the basil I turned into a pesto.  Since I am not a fan of tomatoes on my burger I left that out, but the rest of my family enjoyed a fresh tomato salad on the side.  Enjoy!

Ingredients:
Burger:
1 lb ground beef (preferably 80% lean, 20% fat)
4 slices fresh mozzarella cheese
4 burger buns (for something special try focaccia or ciabatta)
1 recipe for basil pesto sauce (see below, people can add as much or as little as they like)
salt
pepper

Basil Pesto:
2 cups fresh basil leaves
1 clove of garlic
2 tbs walnuts or pine nuts (I actually used hazelnuts on this batch, and it came out delicious too)
1/3 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
1/2 cup to 3/4 cup olive oil

Directions:
Burger:
Form each burger patty using about a quarter of the meat. Put an indentation in the middle using your thumb to prevent burger bulge. Then salt and pepper both sides.

Slice the mozzarella cheese about 1/4 inch thick.

I cooked my burgers on the outdoor grill for 6 minutes on each side, melting the mozzarella cheese on the second side.  Only flip your burgers once, and never press down. 

 For the pesto sauce, put the garlic clove and nuts in the blender and press crush or grind to chop these up.  Then add the basil and puree the mixture.  Through the top of the blender, slowly drizzle the olive oil.  Scrape down the sides to make sure everything is incorporated.  Then add the cheese and blend again.

Put on top of the burger and enjoy on the burger bun of your choice!



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