Saturday, July 3, 2010

Bring on the Sage!

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Sage is one of my absolute favorite spices. I especially love to pair it with turkey. So I'm really excited about tonight's dinner because it not only incorporates sage, but it is essentially all my own! I got the concept of "stuffed turkey burgers" from (where else?) Food Network Magazine, but I decided to personalize the recipe and make it all my own.

As I was scrounging through the fridge for side dish options I found 2 potatoes, apples and half an onion. I chopped them all up, tossed them in some extra virgin olive oil, salt, pepper and sage - then popped the mixture into the oven (spread evenly over a sheet pan) to roast. It turned out perfectly and I had to hold back from scarfing down the entire dish!











I also wanted to add some veggies to the meal, so I quickly sauteed up some fresh zucchini we recently got from a local produce stand. I cooked the squash for just a few minutes in olive oil, a few tbsp. of water, salt and pepper on the stovetop in a small saute pan...yum! I love summer squash!











And at last...the Stuffed Turkey Burgers. I stuffed them with roasted red peppers and mozzarella cheese. I roasted the pepper myself - just sliced it in half and threw it under the broiler for about 10-15 min. Once it was roasted I put it in a sealed container for 20 minutes until I could easily peel the skin off with my fingers, then I sliced it up and it was ready for the burgers! Check out my easy and deliciously tasty recipe below:

Stuffed Turkey Burgers

Ingredients
- 1 lb. lean ground turkey
- 1 roasted red pepper (roughly chopped)
- 1/2 cup or so of mozzarella cheese (shredded)
- salt
- pepper
- worcestershire sauce
- ground or rubbed sage (easily found in your local supermarket spice aisle)
- plain bread crumbs
- smoked paprika (another of my favorite spices!)

Instructions
1. In large mixing bowl combine: turkey, salt, pepper, worcestershire sauce, sage, bread crumbs and smoked paprika until combined and can easily be formed into patties. *I never really measure my spices, so just eyeball how much you need and try to use equal amounts of each spice with a little more salt than other spices.

2. Divide the meat mixture into 4 equal parts, then divide each of these into 2 evenly-sized patties.

3. Sprinkle 4 of the patties with about 2 tbsp. of the red peppers and top with about a pinch and a half of shredded cheese, then top with the remaining patties, being sure to seal them tightly around the edges. Tahhh Dahhhhh - stuffed patties!











4. Ok, I am somewhat scared of the grill (I've never learned how to use one) so I threw these under the broiler in the oven (500 degrees) at 6 minutes per side. They turned out perfectly cooked. Remember - no one wants a rare turkey burger...just say no to food poisoning!











Instead of thick hamburger rolls, I put the burgers on multi-grain sandwich rounds lightly spread with mayo and a sprinkle of salt and pepper. I think next time I might top them with sauteed mushrooms and onions! I know I'm somewhat biased, but holy crap they tasted amazingly good! I can't wait for Aaron to get home and try this food tonight!

2 comments:

  1. I've never roasted potatoes with apples as well. Sounds delicious! I will have to try it!

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  2. The apples really added a fantastic flavor - I would include the onions too in order to avoid it being too sweet, but it could also be good to embrace the sweet and do sweet potatoes with apples too...yum!

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