Italian-Inspired Turkey Burgers

While I enjoy a nice, juicy ball or patty of ground beef as much as the next person, sometimes I'm just not in the mood for all that delicious fat (we all know fat tastes good, so shut it). This change of pace is usually suggested and/or requested by that little shoulder devil reminding me about eating healthy and taking care of myself. And yes, it's a devil because I definitely don't have shoulder angels. Heeding the devil's advice, I usually switch out the ground beef for ground turkey and continue on my merry way. You can just substitute in that turkey, right? Wrong.

Ground turkey just lacks the flavor of ground beef--it's decidedly dull and boring and requires a lot more work than beef. So unless your beefed up recipe features a lot of spice and flavor, you're going to have to do some tweaking. This, of course, is where my recipe comes into play. I actually use this recipe for meatballs--the flavors of my beef meatballs just didn't meld well with the turkey. It's full of garlic, basil, onion, oregano and panko. Trust me on the panko--it absorbs the little fat that the turkey contains and keeps the meat nice and moist, which is another problem that plagues ground turkey. I would have made meatballs this evening if it weren't still 70F out and the new barbecue wasn't calling my name. Instead, I am regaling you with my kicked up Italian-inspired turkey burger. Don't fret--it may be healthier than most burgers, but it tastes insanely good.

Now, what's going on in that picture up there? First, we have a perfectly grilled turkey burger filled with garlic and basil. Then there's some tangy soft goat cheese (yes, they make and eat goat cheese in Italy). After that, some barbecue-wilted spinach and homegrown tomato. To follow that up, I spread homemade tomato-basil pesto on the bun. Amazing. So if you're trying to figure out how to improve the plight of ground turkey, try out these burgers during grilling season or whip up some meatballs when you're craving pasta. I promise you'll thank me.

Italian-Inspired Turkey Burgers
Makes 4 Patties

Burger Needs	Accouterments
11 oz. 93% lean ground turkey 1/3 cup yellow onion, chopped 1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped 1/4 cup panko 4-5 cloves garlic, minced 1.5 tsp. oregano 1 tsp. kosher salt 1 tsp. freshly ground pepper	1/8 cup pesto 1-2 oz. goat cheese 2 cups spinach leaves 1 tomato, sliced bread for buns

Hello, my name is Goat Cheese & I photograph horribly.

In a large bowl, mix together all burger ingredients aside from the turkey. Break turkey up into large chunks and massage all ingredients together. If the mixture is a little dry and not sticking together, add a tablespoon of water at a time. Separate into patties and grill.

Grill bread to toast, and melt cheese on top of burger. With spinach, a minute before you remove bread from grill, place half a cup on bottom half of each bun. Close lid and let wilt for a minute. Serve burger on top of wilted spinach, add pesto to top half of bun, and add tomato. Devour.

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