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| Pork and parsley burgers |
Pork mince can be a very
versatile ingredient however it can often be bland and dry. It lacks
the meaty juiciness that beef or lamb mince naturally has. I have a
couple of recipes I use regularly for pork mince but this one I had
completely forgotten about because I wrote it out and it ended up
being trapped on my old laptop. It wasn't until I needed something
else off of it did I find it again.
The reason this recipe needs
50g of breadcrumbs is simple – any scraps of bread I have left over
that look past their best I blitz with a hand blender and then bag up
in 50g quantities and then freeze them until required. No waste and
breadcrumbs always available when required. I gave up buying the
little bags of grated Parmesan some time ago. They are very expensive
- check the price per kilo compared to a block – and inevitably
you end up with some left in the bag which need isn't used. The
pre-grated hard cheese is also very bland in taste. I now buy a block
of hard cheese and have it in my fridge at also times. Once covered
it lasts for ages so don't worry about it going mouldy. It's very
useful for just adding a flavour kick when grated on top of dishes. A
little goes a long way.
As this contains fresh
parsley I am putting it forward for this month's Cooking with
Herbs hosted by Karen at Lavender and Lovage. Karen has requested a special citrus hit this month
and this is provided by the lemon.
This is also going to
Elizabeth at Elizabeth's Kitchen Diary for the No Waste Food Challenge for using up
breadcrumbs and not wasting any Parmesan!
Makes 4 burgers
Ingredients
Ingredients
2oz (50g) Breadcrumbs
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
1lb 2oz (500g) Pork mince
1oz (25g) Italian hard
cheese, such as Parmesan, finely grated
2 tbsp (30ml) Flat-leaf
parsley, chopped
1 Garlic clove, crushed
Black pepper to season
1 tbsp Olive oil, for frying
Method
1. In a bowl put the
breadcrumbs and squeeze over the lemon juice. Stir together.
2. Add the rest of the
ingredients except for the olive oil. Mix well until all the
ingredients are combined.
3. Once it has come together
divide into four equal portions and shape into burgers. Flatten them
to ensure they cook all the way through.
4. Put on a plate and cover
with cling film and chill for 30 minutes.
5. Heat the oil in a frying
pan and fry until they are browned on both sides and cooked through.
We served ours in foccaccia.
They also go well in normal burger buns.
What other, or additional, herbs could you use as well as parsley? Coriander, cumin? And mix or just use one?
ReplyDeleteSince I've added the lemon juice to add moistness to the mixture I wouldn't want to overpower the lemon flavour too much with extra herbs. You could try making them with coriander or try thyme, tarragon or oregano on their own. I think cumin may be too spicy for the lemon.
ReplyDeleteI LOVE recipes like this as I LOVE minced pork, so this has been bookmarked to make in the future! Karen
ReplyDeleteAlways good to have a selection of pork mince recipes. I'll have to write up my others and share them.
DeleteThis makes 4 VERY big burgers! Used oregano as only thing I had. Did you embellish them with lettuce etc when you served them?
ReplyDeleteNo one goes hungry here! Oregano is a good choice to go with the lemon. I don't buy salad much at this time of year but later on in the year it would be nice to have them with lettuce and tomato.
DeleteYum!! These burgers look lovely, juicy and succulent - great job! Thanks for sharing with the no waste food challenge :) I usually freeze the cheese rinds for use in soups later on, preventing even more Parmesan waste!
ReplyDeleteThey sound great with the Parmesan in it. I always make sure to have a block of Parmesan in my fridge. I can't stand the thought of not having any Parmesan in my fridge. I definitely will keep the idea of those burgers in mind.
ReplyDelete