I couldn’t try a recipe from the Sandwich King’s new cookbook that wasn’t a sandwich, right?
My family looks forward to any chance we get to fire up the grill, so on a beautiful Sunday afternoon we decided to make Jeff Mauro’s turkey burger recipe from Come On Over: 111 Fantastic Recipes for the Family that Cooks, Eats, and Laughs Together. The Food Network star’s sense of humor shines through his recipes, which have plenty of cooking tips behind them, too.
In his “Juiciest Turkey Burgers Ever,” he explains that the ricotta in the burger mixture promises that you won’t end up with a dry burger. Plus, sage and soy add to the “festive umami angle.” While Mauro’s recipe calls for 2 pounds of turkey for four giant sandwiches, I formed the mixture into eight more manageable patties. Leftover turkey burgers are a sure way to beat the Monday blues!
Mauro also cooks his burgers in a cast-iron skillet; we grilled ours instead. As a topper, he provides a recipe for pickled red onions. Because the burgers were a last-minute dinner decision, we simply topped ours with sliced red onion.
Ingredients:
- 2 pounds ground turkey (a bit of dark meat is preferred for flavor and fat)
- 3/4 cup whole milk ricotta
- 2 tablespoons minced fresh sage (I substituted a tablespoon of dried sage)
- 3 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard, plus more for the buns
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil (if using a cast iron pan)
- 4 tablespoons salted butter, at room temperature, for griddling the buns (We also omitted this step, although it does sound delicious!)
- 4 whole wheat buns
- 2 heirloom tomatoes, sliced 1/4 inch thick
- Pickled red onions (or sliced red onion)
Directions:
- Combine the turkey, ricotta, sage, soy sauce, Worcestershire, mustard, salt, and pepper in a large bowl. Divide into 4 equal patties.
- Heat the oil in a cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Add the patties, cover the pan, and sear until golden brown, 3 to 4 minutes. Flip, cover again, and cook for 3 to 4 minutes, until the internal temperature of each burger reaches 165 degrees Fahrenheit. Remove from the heat and tent with foil to rest for at least 3 minutes.
Mauro provides instructions for buttering and griddling your bread, too, for 5 minutes over medium heat.
Other recipes in “Come On Over” include Cranberry-Walnut Irish Soda Bread Muffins with Whipped Maple-Cinnamon Cream Cheese, BLT Sliders with Candied Bacon, Takeout-Style Chinese Spare Ribs, Stovetop Ooey Gooey Mac and Cheese, Pastrami Rub Short Ribs, Grilled Pineapple Guacamole, True Chicago-Style Deep-Dish Pizza, General Tso’s Crispy Chicken Sandwiches, Classic Chicago Chicken Vesuvio, and his wife Sarah’s Famous Sea Salt Pecan Chocolate Chip Cookies.
Come On Over is available upon request by calling Whitehall Public Library at 412-882-6622 or in the online catalog, here.