This pesto burger was just a little bit inspired, even if I do say so myself. I saw a recipe for a beef burger imbued with pesto, and decided to set about making it myself. I knew I was going to have to think of a vegetarian replacement, so my mind went straight to Quorn mince. I’ve never used it in a burger recipe before, so this was the chance to jump on the opportunity!
I basically eschewed all of the other ingredients suggest in the meat recipe, in favour of keeping it simple. I had to cook the mince first as it was frozen, but basically I didn’t have to worry too much about whether it was fully cooked before I took it out because I knew I would be cooking it again. Draining away the water felt a bit painful as it seemed like I was watching the flavour escape too, but this was more than made up for by the pesto flavour mixing through in the final product.
There is a full review coming on Wednesday (update: now live here), so I’ll leave it there, but I will say that these were incredibly easy to make. I would suggest them to anyone who is a bit of a newbie at the burger game, as they take less time and less hassle than any burger recipe I’ve tried so far. We topped them with a rasher of veggie bacon, just to make them even more exciting.
Here’s the vine so you can see just how easy it is:
And now here’s the recipe for you to try:
- 25g-ish homemade pesto (add more or less to taste)
- 1 lb frozen Quorn mince
- 25g breadcrumbs
- 4 veggie bacon rashers (to serve)
- Put the mince into a saucepan of boiling water and leave to cook for 10 mins
- Drain water and add pesto and breadcrumbs to mixture
- Mix thoroughly until evenly distributed
- Using your hands, shape into four (crumbly!) patties
- Pat them into shape firmly and squeeze to avoid crumbling later
- Add them to a frying pan one at a time and fry in vegetable oil for 3-4 mins each side on medium heat
- Serve topped with veggie bacon rashers, cooked in the burger oil
We often find reduced meatballs at the local supermarket on Sunday closing! This sounds like a fantastic recipe to use the meatballs up! Thank you for sharing.
It’s perfect for that! We have a ton of mince in the freezer at all times so for us it’s a great way to make some space.