Bruschetta Pesto Burgers

This is all Ethan's. But he wanted to make sure I got a picture of it and posted it. He had a similar burger at Applebee’s, which I'm still surprised about because he hates Applebee’s. He told me all about this mysterious and delicious burger and he wanted to recreate it at home. According to him, it was better than Applestink’s.




For the bruschetta:
4 tomatoes, seeded and diced as small as possible
20 basil leaves, thinly sliced
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp kosher salt
Olive oil

Combine the tomatoes, basil, garlic and salt. Stir to combine. Drizzle in olive oil until everything is well coated. Set aside until serving.

For the pesto:
2 cups basil leaves
½ cup pine nuts, toasted
2 garlic cloves
A few pinches of kosher salt
½ cup grated fresh Parmesan cheese
Olive oil

For the pesto, combine basil, pine nuts, garlic, salt and Parmesan cheese in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until all ingredients are finely chopped. While machine is running, stream in olive oil until desired consistency (thin enough to spread on the bread). Scrape out of food processor bowl with a rubber scraper into a medium bowl. Set aside until serving.

For the burgers:
1 lb ground beef sirloin
1 egg
Kosher salt and ground pepper
1 ball of buffalo mozzarella, sliced
Mayonnaise, for spreading
4 focaccia rolls, sliced in half

Heat the grill to medium high. Mix the ground sirloin and egg together with your hands. Season with salt and pepper. Shape into 4 patties and set aside.

Grill the hamburgers, on both sides, until desired doneness (ours took about 15 minutes).

To assemble the burgers, spread a small amount of mayonnaise on each side of the focaccia rolls. To the bottom, add a slice of buffalo mozzarella, top with warm hamburger and then top with a generous scoop of bruschetta. Spread a layer of pesto on the top bun and set that on top of the bruschetta. Enjoy!

Yields 4 burgers.

Rookie's Notes: To thinly slice your basil, stack all the basil leaves on top of each other. Then roll them up like a cigar. Run your knife through the "basil cigar", making little ribbons.