Pesto Turkey Burgers

A friend of mine, who happens to be an excellent cook, shared this recipe with me. In fact, she invited me over for lunch and made them for me! I've made this several times since then - it's one of my favorites. Not just because of the taste either - it's an incredibly fast and easy recipe. Andrew raves over these burgers which is saying a lot - honestly, I should change his middle name to "Picky".


Ingredients:

1 lb uncooked ground turkey
4 Tbsp basil pesto
1/4 cup finely shredded Parmesan cheese
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 tsp salt

4 ciabatta rolls, or rustic Italian bread
4 slices cheese (mozzarella or provolone)
fresh basil leaves, arugula or spring garden mix (we usually use plain old lettuce)
tomato slices


Directions:

In a bowl, combine turkey, pesto, Parmesan cheese, garlic and salt. Using a fork, mix until ingredients are blended. Shape into 4 patties. Place patties on a grill and cook 10-13 minutes or until turkey is no longer pink, turning once halfway through grilling. If you like, you can place the cheese on top of the patty to melt.

If you like, you can brush the bread with olive oil and place on grill. We've noticed that ciabatta bread is actually a little tough to chew, so you might not want to toast it. Sometimes I skip past the whole Italian thing and just put the burgers on a kaiser roll. It's all personal preference of course.

Also, the recipe calls for 3 cloves of garlic. Holy cow, that's a lot of garlic for 1 lb of meat!  Well, in my opinion it's a lot of garlic - a little goes a long way for me.  Again, it's all personal preference - I only use 1 clove of garlic, but you may not want to change it at all.

This is a really fantastic meal - you're gonna love it!