Juicy burgers filled with melted cheese that are cooked in a skillet and served with salsa on a warm bun! Summer is here, oh yeah!
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Since it’s summer for most of you reading this post (I live in Buenos Aires, and it’s winter right now), I’m adding my small contribution to the season with juicy blue cheese burgers, full of cheese in the middle and using the leftover salsa from this chorizo sandwich – the best street food ever, but who’s keeping score.
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I ended up with this awesome burgers while decluttering my fridge.
Part beef, part pork, they took care not only of the ground beef and pork sausages (from the chorizo sandwich I mentioned before)but also the stray chunks of cheese, a few slider buns I had made who knows when and four remaining garlic cloves.
Steps for making these burgers.
- Make the salsa.
- Mix meats, seasonings and form patties with cheese inside.
- Heat skillet and have ready the burgers, the buns and the salsa.
- Warm the buns in the skillet. Reserve on a wooden board or plate.
- Cook the burgers and, when you flip them, add the salsa (image below)
- Eat while cheese inside is still warm!
Making the cheese filled patties.
I like to mix the meat well so that it binds together and the cheese doesn’t leak while cooking.
But if you like a crumblier burger, don’t over mix the meat mixture. The burger might not be so compact, but they will be amazing anyway.
I use mozzarella cheese for its melting properties and blue cheese for its sharpness and unique flavor (image below, right). Both are necessary. But you might want to use another kind of cheese. Make sure one melts well or you won’t get that melty filling which is the whole idea of this burger, isn’t it?
Tips & tricks for making this recipe:
- Meat: use beef and pork for a better flavored and juicier burger.
- Cheese: use a cheese that melts well and another that has a sharp flavor.
- Buns: they can also be warmed in the oven or not at all. I think a crisp, warm bread add a lot to the final burger.
- Salsa: you can omit the salsa and use tomato slices. The real star of this recipe is the burger itself.
- Cooking: I use a skillet and make these year-round, but of course you can grill them.
Other recipes you might like:
Let me know if you make this recipe! I’d love to hear what you think about it.
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Juicy burgers filled with melting cheese that are cooked in a skillet and served with salsa in a warm bun!
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Ingredients
- 7 oz (200g) pork sausage (no casings) or ground pork
- 14 oz (400g) ground beef, with no more than 15% fat
- 4 garlic cloves
- Salt and black pepper
- 4 oz (115g) blue cheese, crumbled
- 2 oz (60g) mozzarella cheese, sliced
- 1 cup Salsa (see recipe here)
- 4 burger slider buns
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350ºF.
- Roast garlic cloves wrapped in foil with a drizzle of olive oil, until tender, about 30 minutes. You will have soft, caramelized garlic ‘meat’.
- In a bowl mix ground pork and beef with mashed garlic.
- Add salt (not too much since the blue cheese is salty) and black pepper.
- Mix very well with your hands for a few minutes; this part is important so the proteins in the meats break down and bind the whole thing together.
- You can also knead it with a stand mixer, something I recommend if you’re making burgers for a crowd.
- Heat skillet over medium/low heat.
- Divide the mixture into 4 equal parts. Take each part, divide it in two, flatten one into a disk and add some blue cheese and a smaller amount of mozzarella.
- Top with the remaining portion of meat and carefully cover the cheese, making sure the sides are sealed. Flatten it without letting the cheese spill.
- Repeat with remaining meat and cheeses.
- Add patties to the skillet, and cook them for about 7 – 10 minutes on each side, until golden.
- Push the meat to one side, stacking them if needed, or transfer them to a tray, and keep them warm in a very low oven.
- Divide the salsa in two. Increase the heat to high, add a drizzle of olive oil to the skillet and half a cup of salsa. Sautée it for a minute or two and add the bottom of the buns if you want to the skillet, so they warm up and soak some of the juices.
- Mix the fresh salsa with the cooked one. Put the burgers with salsa on top between the warm bread and eat.
Notes
Tips & tricks for making this recipe:
- Meat: use beef and pork for a better flavored and juicier burger.
- Cheese: use a cheese that melts well and another that has a sharp flavor.
- Buns: they can also be warmed in the oven or not at all. I think a crisp, warm bread add a lot to the final burger.
- Salsa: you can omit the salsa and use tomato slices. The real star of this recipe is the burger itself.
- Cooking: I use a skillet and make these year-round, but of course you can grill them.
- Yield: If you make sliders you will get about double the amount.
Keywords: blue cheese burgers, skillet burgers
laurasmess says
September 3, 2013 at 10:14I'm so sorry to hear that you're still dealing with the aftermath of the flood. It's been ridiculously rainy here so in a small way, I can relate to the time it takes for paper to dry out (I'm pulling sodden mail out of the box on a daily basis, and all of my invoices have partially dried then ripped. I can in no way relate to the gravity of what you're experiencing though. You amaze me, as your strength and resilience shine through in everything you write. My husband would love these burgers. He adores meat and blue cheese… particularly if mushrooms are added too! Hugs to you lovely xx
Elisabeth Foodandthrift says
August 31, 2013 at 03:21I love your blue cheese burgers…totally drooling over those 'life-like photos'!
Cocoa and Lavender says
August 30, 2013 at 14:46We used to call burgers like these "surprise burgers" when I was growing up. Mom would put all our favorite toppings in the middle and sometimes you got your favorites, and sometimes you got your brother's. I think it was her way of not having us be picky about foods. To this day, all four of us boys eat everything! I love the blue cheese in these and the use of salsa on top. I have never cooked a burger in a skillet – I have a nice cast iron one, too – I should try it! ~ David
Karen @ Lemon Grove Cake Diaries says
August 30, 2013 at 08:20You have inspired me to start decluttering my house….but I just need to have one of those burgers first 🙂
Abbe@This is How I Cook says
August 30, 2013 at 04:18Paula, I love to throw things away. Once I get started I can't stop. The hard part is getting started! My husband will keep everything but I always have a cleaner mind when I'm finished. Having a burger like this waiting for me would make me work faster and probably throw away more!