Burgers From Around the World Series : Mediterranean

As I mentioned in my burger loving post I'll be starting a monthly series where I will create burgers inspired by many different countries/regions...this past Sunday I decided to start it all off with a Mediterranean Burger. I wanted to incorporate flavours that are traditionally Mediterranean with a very typical style burger...this used ingredients such as kalamata olives, roasted garlic, sun dried tomatoes, caramelised eggplant and feta cheese. This is a made up recipe, but let me tell you it was one of the juiciest burgers I have ever had. Its almost as if the ingredients melt within the meat and once you take a bite it gushes into your mouth creating an extremely flavorful experience!


So this is what I ended up doing:


Burger Patty


- Ground Beef (Amount depends on how many burgers you are preparing)

- 4 Garlic Cloves (Cut off the ends, leave the skin on, drizzle with olive oil and wrap in foil. Pop it in the oven for 15mins to roast)

- Handful of Kalamata Olives (Chopped finely)

- 2 pieces of Sun dried Tomatoes (Chopped finely)

- Pepper to taste


I prefer to use my hands for this. Mix the ground beef in with the chopped olives and sun dried tomatoes. Take the garlic out of the oven and let it cool. Squeeze them out of their skin and mash the garlic. Add this to the patty mixture and add pepper to taste. When you form the meat patties press your thumb in the middle of the patty to leave an indentation. This actually helps the patty to keep it's form as it cooks.


Now I wanted to make this an extra special burger so instead of the usual lettuce and tomato to accompany the burger I added a little something else:


- Grilled Eggplant Slices (Drizzle olive oil on a grill pan, place slices of eggplant and grill till they turn brown and fragrant)

- A slice of Feta Cheese

- A piece of Sun dried Tomato


I assembled all of this with half a pita bread and a thin coating of tomato pesto and a side of homemade wedges...Yummy! This made for an incredible burger and if you have the chance try out the beef patty recipe as the ingredients work together perfectly. Next time I might even add a few chopped capers...