Opa Burger

If you follow my blog, you must know by now that I love Greek food, and wines.  I try to incorporate typical Greek flavors in many of the food I make and when it came time to create a special burger to pair for a wine tasting, I opted for a Greek version of the American classic.

Burger Ingredients:

• 1 pound ground lamb
• 2 Tbsps. fresh mint, chopped
• 2 large garlic cloves, minced
• ½ tsp. each, salt and pepper
• 2 Tbsps. olive oil, preferably Greek
• 4 small pita pocket bread, often referred by the name Pitettes, sliced in halves horizontally

Topping ingredients:

• 8-ounce block of Halloumi cheese, cut into 8 slices then lightly coated in olive oil
• 8 tsps. Tzatziki sauce, homemade or store-bought
• 1 heirloom tomato, cut into 4 slices

Directions:

1. Heat a gas or charcoal grill to medium-high.
2. In a medium bowl, combine the lamb, mint, garlic, salt and pepper and form into four medium patties. Be sure not to overwork the meat causing it to be tough after grilling.
3. Lightly coat the four patties with the olive oil, and then grill for 3 minutes on each side.
4. While lamb patties are grilling, place the eight slices of Halloumi cheese on the grill and sear for one minute on each side.
5. Lightly toast each of the Pitettes halves on the grill.
6. To assemble, place a lamb patty on a Pitette half, top the meat with two teaspoons of Tzatziki sauce, 2 slices of Halloumi and a slice of tomato. Top with another Pitette half.  Assemble the remaining three burgers.

Makes 4 burgers.

Notes:  Halloumi cheese is ideal for this burger but it can be replaced with crumbled Feta if unavailable.  There are many good quality Tzatziki sauces in the supermarket deli section, so don’t pass on making this burger because you don’t want to make a homemade batch.