Table Talk » On the grill this weekend: Spanish pork burgers

I knew that Tom would want burgers at least once this weekend and this Spanish Pork Burger from Eating Well caught my eye.

The ground pork that my grocery store carries has 22 grams of fat per 4 ounces. Yikes! No way am I going to use that. Pork tenderloin has 3 grams of fat per 4 ounces. That sure sounds better, huh? So rather than buying a pound of store-ground pork, I bought a 1-pound pork tenderloin and ground it in my food processor. This got me thinking that it's time to think about buying the meat grinder attachment for my KitchenAid stand mixer. The food processor does a decent job of making ground meat, but it is very easy to go from ground to mush. The meat grinder attachment would solve this problem.

The Spanish Pork Burger is flavored with chopped caramelized onions, smoked Spanish paprika, chopped green olives, and garlic. The onions do a great job of keeping the burger moist. It's served with more of the caramelized onions, a lemon-saffron mayo, and roasted red peppers. The original recipe calls for Piquillo peppers, but I couldn't find them, so I used roasted red peppers.

This burger takes a little while longer to make than a traditional burger, but it is well worth the time. While the onions caramelized. I made a quick Spanish-flavored carrot salad by shredding about a pound of carrots, a small onion, and a large clove of garlic in the food processor. I tossed in about 2 tablespoons of chopped Spanish olives, about 2 teaspoons of dried thyme, 3 tablespoons of sherry vinegar, 2 tablespoons olive oil, and salt and pepper.

Rather than chopping the caramelized onions by hand, I tossed the onions, garlic, and Spanish olives into the food processor and then scraped them into a mixing bowl. I cut the pork tenderloin into small chunks before grinding it in the food processor. I get the best results with making ground meat in the food processor when I take the time to chop the meat first. I added some smoked Spanish paprika, salt, and pepper, mixed everything together, and formed it into 4 patties. The mixture is soft, but it held together perfectly.

As soon as the burgers went on the grill, I mixed the lemon-saffron mayo. I love saffron and I wish I had warmed the lemon juice and soaked the saffron in the warm lemon juice rather than just mixing the saffron into the mayo, and then adding the lemon zest and juice. Next time.

I cooked the burgers for 5 minutes, then flipped them and cooked them for another 5 minutes. I missed the instruction about adding the Manchego cheese and cooking for another minute to melt the cheese, so we had unmelted cheese on our burgers.

I assembled the burgers by first putting some of the caramelized onions on the bun, then the burger, then the cheese, then more onions, the mayo, and topped with roasted red peppers, and the bun top.

We loved these. The flavors went together perfectly and a pork burger was a delicious change. The pork tenderloin cooked up beautifully. It was lean, but moist and delicious.

Spanish Pork Burgers
adapted from Eating Well
Serves 4

olive oil spray
3 cups Spanish onion, thinly sliced
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon Spanish olives
2 cloves garlic
1 pound pork tenderloin, ground in food processor
2 teaspoons Spanish smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup light mayonnaise
2 teaspoons lemon zest
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 Pinch saffron
4 ounces Manchego cheese, thinly sliced
2 whole roasted red pepper, halved lengthwise
4 whole-wheat hamburger buns, lightly toasted

Heat oil spray in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion, pepper and teaspoon salt. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft and translucent, about 10 minutes. Set aside half the onion for topping.

Preheat grill to medium.

Add remaining onions to the food processor bowl. Add Spanish olives and garlic. Process until finely chopped. Scrape into mixing bowl.

Cut the pork tenderloin into 3/4-inch cubes. Add to food processor bowl and pulse until chopped.

Add pork to mixing bowl. Add paprika, salt, and pepper. Mix gently to combine, until evenly incorporated. Form into 4 equal patties, about 1/2 inch thick.

Combine mayonnaise, lemon zest, lemon juice and saffron in a small bowl.

Grill the burgers, turning once, until an instant-read thermometer inserted in the center registers 165°F, 10 to 12 minutes total. Top with cheese and cook until it is melted, about 1 minute more.

Assemble the burgers on toasted buns with the lemon-saffron mayonnaise, caramelized onions, and roasted red pepper.

Posted May 24, 2008 8:37 PM in Recipes, Test Kitchen

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2 Comment(s)

Amy said… (on June 4, 2008 at 06:28 AM #)

I have been experimenting with different burgers lately. Your Spanish burger looks great. I love the Manchego and roasted red pepper combo.

Kris said… (on June 5, 2008 at 11:15 AM #)

Yummy-looking burger, Patti!


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