Lamb burger with tzatziki

If I had to say what my absolute best beef burger is, it would have to be a coarse ground or hand cut 100% prime cut patty, grilled simply with some seasoning (or not) and served on a toasted bun with cheese, sauce and all the trimmings. You can see my experiment where I compared burgers made with hand cut vs hand ground aged ribeye steak here.

However I also do like a burger that has had a lot of herbs, onions and flavour added to it. Its the way my mother made them and mince mixed up this way can be made into the perfect meatball.

When it comes to lamb meat, I feel it needs all the bits and pieces added to give it flavour. So after quite a lot of experimenting (with one failed attempt) I have adpated my mothers homemade beef burger recipe for lamb, and added all the typical flavours that compliment this meat so well. I also made these up using a mix of half osterich and half beef mince which turned out to be rather delicious too.

So here is a my recipe for very moist and juicy lamb burgers that can just as easily be made into mini meatballs and served with the delicious and super convenient Mediterranean Delicacies Tztaziki on the side. The meatballs can also be stuffed into a pita pocket and filled with Tzatziki. The Mediterranean Delicacies Tzatziki is also available in a low fat option which is a standard fodder in my house and replaces butter on my sandwiches.

Recipe: (this will make about 6 decent sized burger patties)

500gms lamb mince (better to use less lean if possible otherwise it is too dry)
1 small onion finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic crushed
1 Tbs of olive oil plus extra to fry the burgers in
1 Tbs of finely chopped parsley (pref Italian flat leaf)
1 Tbs finely chopped fresh mint
1 Tbs of dried (or fresh) oregano
1 tsp of ground cumin
1/2 tsp of ground coriander
1/2 cup of breadcrumbs
1 large free range egg
1/4 cup of tomato sauce (this adds juiciness and a touch of sweetness)
1 tsp dried chilli flakes – optional and if you wanted to add a bit of heat
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Heat a non stick frying pan, add the olive oil and saute the onion and garlic briefly until they start to soften (before they start going brown). Add this to the mince in a bowl with all the other ingredients and mix well to combine. Season generously with salt and pepper. Heat a splashof olive oil in the pan and divide the mince out into even parts and roll into balls which you will then press down to make a patty. Fry these in batches and if necessary wipe the pan with paper towel between fries in case there are any burnt bits left in the pan.

Serve these with whatever salad trimmings you like. I think thinly sliced red onion and rocket work really well with lashings of tzatziki. It is also wonderful to serve on top of a soft pita bread.

Mediterranean Delicacies can be found at select Pick n Pay, Shoprite Checkers, Spar, Fruit & Veg City and independent retailers nationwide.

For a few other recipes using the delicious Mediterranean Delicacies range, check out:

ina gartens chicken parmesan