Well, hello! It’s so good to be back in the kitchen! So one of the first things The Angry Chef did when we got back from the country was get to work cleaning up the grill and getting it ready for summer. While he was outside, I whipped together one of my all-time favorite burgers. I made two on the stove for us, and saved the other two for the grill the next day. My favorite thing about these burgers? With just five ingredients, they’re fast and easy to put together.
This burger may not have a ton of stuff in it (sometime I’ll post my hamburger recipe, which is kind of like a meatloaf in patty form), but with loads of fresh garlic and basil, it packs a lot of flavor.
This recipe makes 4 monstrous burgers, or 6-8 smaller ones. Make ’em as big or as little as you like. You could even form a bunch of mini patties for bite-sized sliders.
Serve them on buns with your favorite garnishes. This burger also makes a great topper to a baby spinach salad.
Basil & Garlic Pork Burgers
2 lbs. ground pork
3 cloves garlic, mashed
1/2 cup fresh basil, shredded or cut into ribbons
freshly cracked black pepper
kosher salt
a drizzle of olive oil, for frying
Makes 4 monster-sized burgers, or 6-8 smaller ones
Basil & Garlic Pork Burgers: Make the burger mixture
Put your ground pork in a large bowl.
Toss in the mashed garlic.
Cut the basil into ribbons.
Add the basil to the pork and garlic.
Sprinkle on some kosher salt, to taste.
Crack on some fresh black pepper (also to taste).
With your hands, mix the basil, garlic, salt, and pepper into the pork.
Keep going until you have a fairly uniform mixture, like this:
Basil & Garlic Pork Burgers: Form the burgers
Divide the meat into quarters (or more pieces, depending on how many burgers you’re making):
Grab one quarter in your hand.
Smoosh it together until you’ve formed it into a nice patty, like this:
Make a little indent in the center of the burger. This will help it cook a little more evenly.
Repeat with the rest of the quarters until you have four patties.
Basil & Garlic Pork Burgers: Fry the burgers
Put a little olive oil in a non-stick pan. Set the pan on the stove over medium-high heat.
Use a large enough pan so that your burgers won’t be crowded. (If the pan is crowded, the burgers will sort of steam, instead of develop a nice brown crust.)
Tip the pan a little to distribute the olive oil. After a minute or two, when the pan is hot, add your burgers to the pan.
Fry them like this for a few minutes on one side, without moving them around too much.
After a few minutes, the sides of the burgers should start to look cooked (toward the bottom).
When you see that, peek under one. If you have a nice brown crust, like this, flip them over.
Do the same thing on the other side.
When the burger is browned on the second side, flip it over. Lower the heat at this point and cook for another maybe 5 minutes. (If your burgers are thick like mine, you want them to cook through to the center without burning on the outside.)
Flip the burger one more time and cook it for about 5 minutes on the other side.
Your final cooking time will depend on how thick your burger patties are.
Basil & Garlic Pork Burgers: How to tell when your burger is done
How do you know when your burgers are done? Good question. Press on the center with a finger. It should feel solid, not squishy.
You can also insert a meat thermometer in the side of your burger so it reaches the center. You’re aiming for about 160 degrees.
When your burgers are done, yank them off the stove. Serve on buns with your favorite garnishes. I like lettuce or cheese with these.
Enjoy!
