You already know I am a big fan of burgers. Whether they are concocted with beef, chicken, pork, or lamb, I will pretty much create something out of anything. I was recently spotlighted on Tasty Kitchen with my eggs benedict burger, but I’ve also been playing around with other burger ideas such as pad Thai sliders. Those two alone should already indicate my love for not only the burger but the creative process in creating one. It was not too long ago when I found some lamb on sale at the store. Lamb is something I typically never purchase as it is rather expensive, and well, I don’t have much use for it rather than making a batch of homemade gyros, or gyro potato skins, but it was on sale, so I figured I would do something with it. As I was getting ready for work one morning, I was thinking of slow cooking the lamb and figure out something to make when I got back home, but then I thought of making a burger out of it, yep, this is where the lamb burger starts.
When I began looking at the lamb, I realized it had some really great fat content, and that’s really when I thought of making a burger. I did not realize the lamb was on the bone, so it took a few minutes to get the lamb off the bone, and there’s no better way to start off your morning than that, right? Lets just say it was worth it. I was, and still a big fan of ground chuck as my meat of choice when it comes to a burger, but this lamb was something out of this world.
Let’s get started.
Ingredients:
- 1/2 pound ground lamb, cut into cubes
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 sprig fresh rosemary
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 slices of tomato
- 1/2 cup of head lettuce, torn
- 1/4 cup thinly sliced cucumbers
- 2 tbsp feta cheese, crumbled
- 2 tbsp plain Greek yogurt
- 1 whole hamburger bun
- 2 kalamata olives, pitted, optional
Start by pulling down the leaves of the rosemary and place on top of your minced garlic. Top that with the salt, and use your knife and begin rubbing and cutting that into your cutting board, making a paste, as best as you can. This will all go into the grinder, so making fine paste is not desired.
Next, take your lamb meat and add to your meat grinder. If you do not have a grinder, place the meat in a sealable bag in the freezer until it just begins to harden, then use a chef’s knife and begin to cut it into a fine mixture, as though you were grinding. Run your rosemary garlic mixture in the grinder as well, midway through the meat grinding process. The meat mixture should be kept in a medium sized bowl. Give a good stir, seal, and let this marinate 4-10 hours, covered in the refrigerator. I went with 9 hours as I had to go to work.
About 30 minutes before making your burger, take the meat mixture out of the refrigerator, form into a large ball, and let this come close to room temperature, or enough to take the chill off.
During this time, prepare the remaining ingredients. Add the feta to a small bowl, and add in the yogurt. Stir, and set aside.
Get a large cast iron skillet onto the stove and set on medium-high heat. After a few minutes of heating up, take your lamb ball and add it to the skillet. Give just a slight press, then let this cook for a couple of minutes. After 2-3 minutes, use a large spatula or burger press, and smash it down. Yes, smash it down. Let this cook another minute for flipping and cooking another few minutes.
During the last several minutes, slather the yogurt mixture all over the base of the bottom bun. Add the cooked lamb burger on top, then top with the slices of tomato, lettuce, and cucumber slices. Add the top bun, then garnish with a toothpick full of kalamata olives.
You will notice right off the bat this great crisp you get on the burger, primarily due to the fact that the lamb has great fat content, plus you offered that great smash technique.
When you bite into this burger, you will be sold right away. It’s packed with this awesome rosemary and garlic flavor (that I really, really love with lamb) that is perfectly balanced by the feta and yogurt mixture. Then you get this crunch of the thinly sliced cucumber and the lettuce and tomato. This burger was hard to put down, and let’s just say that I will be making this one again. If you are looking for a different burger recipe, give this one a shot.
Lamb Burger
Ingredients
- 1/2 pound ground lamb cut into cubes
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1/2 sprig fresh rosemary
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 slices of tomato
- 1/2 cup of head lettuce torn
- 1/4 cup thinly sliced cucumbers
- 2 tbsp feta cheese crumbled
- 2 tbsp plain Greek yogurt
- 1 whole hamburger bun
- 2 kalamata olives pitted, optional
Instructions
- Start by pulling down the leaves of the rosemary and place on top of your minced garlic. Top that with the salt, and use your knife and begin rubbing and cutting that into your cutting board, making a paste, as best as you can. This will all go into the grinder, so making fine paste is not desired.
- Next, take your lamb meat and add to your meat grinder. If you do not have a grinder, place the meat in a sealable bag in the freezer until it just begins to harden, then use a chef's knife and begin to cut it into a fine mixture, as though you were grinding. Run your rosemary garlic mixture in the grinder as well, midway through the meat grinding process. The meat mixture should be kept in a medium sized bowl. Give a good stir, seal, and let this marinate 4-10 hours, covered in the refrigerator. I went with 9 hours as I had to go to work.
- About 30 minutes before making your burger, take the meat mixture out of the refrigerator, form into a large ball, and let this come close to room temperature, or enough to take the chill off.
- During this time, prepare the remaining ingredients. Add the feta to a small bowl, and add in the yogurt. Stir, and set aside.
- Get a large cast iron skillet onto the stove and set on medium-high heat. After a few minutes of heating up, take your lamb ball and add it to the skillet. Give just a slight press, then let this cook for a couple of minutes. After 2-3 minutes, use a large spatula or burger press, and smash it down. Yes, smash it down. Let this cook another minute for flipping and cooking another few minutes.
- During the last several minutes, slather the yogurt mixture all over the base of the bottom bun. Add the cooked lamb burger on top, then top with the slices of tomato, lettuce, and cucumber slices. Add the top bun, then garnish with a toothpick full of kalamata olives.
- You will notice right off the bat this great crisp you get on the burger, primarily due to the fact that the lamb has great fat content, plus you offered that great smash technique.
- When you bite into this burger, you will be sold right away. It's packed with this awesome rosemary and garlic flavor (that I really, really love with lamb) that is perfectly balanced by the feta and yogurt mixture. Then you get this crunch of the thinly sliced cucumber and the lettuce and tomato. This burger was hard to put down, and let's just say that I will be making this one again. If you are looking for a different burger recipe, give this one a shot.