Recipe: Italian Burgers (Sun-dried Tomato Burgers with Basil Pesto, Mozzarella, and Basil)

I've been on this sun-dried tomato kick since this weekend—I whipped up some of my sun-dried tomato pesto on Saturday night and since then, I've put it in pasta, spread it on bread, and even stolen a few spoonfuls straight from the pot. When I finished that up, I went on a search for recipes with sun-dried tomatoes and came across this gem, switched a few things up, and went for it. So, tonight's dinner: Italian-style burgers made with ground beef, sun-dried tomatoes, and garlic served on ciabatta bread with freshly made basil pesto, creamy mozzarella cheese, and fresh basil leaves. This is a delicious Italian twist on a traditional burger—perfect for dinner out on the back porch on a warm summer evening. 

Serves: 4-6
Prep. time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes
Difficulty: Easy
Special equipment: Grill

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup white onion, finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 oz. (approx. 1/3 cup) sun-dried tomatoes, drained and diced (I use Alessi brand)
• 1/4 cup grated Pecorino-Romano cheese
• 1 lb. 90% or 93% lean ground beef
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. black pepper
• 4-6 slices fresh mozzarella cheese
• 4-6 ciabatta rolls/buns (I ended up buying small ciabatta bread loaves and cutting them in half), sliced in half
• 4-6 basil leaves
• Approx 3 tbsp. basil pesto (see recipe here)

Directions

Preheat the grill to medium-high heat. In a medium bowl, combine the onion, garlic, sun-dried tomatoes, Pecorino-Romano cheese, salt, and pepper (to get a finer mix, put all of these ingredients in a food processor and pulse to blend, then add to the bowl). Add the beef and gently mix everything until combined (do not overwork the meat though!). Form into 4-6 (we ended up with 5) hamburger patties and make a small indentation (use your thumb) in the center of each one (this help prevents the burger from becoming domed in the center while it cooks). Cook on the grill until cooked to desired doneness (about 3-4 minutes per side to get medium doneness). During the last minute of cooking, place the ciabatta slices, inside down, on the grill and lightly toast them (this prevents the bread from soaking up burger juices—do this, and you'll never have mushy, wet burger bottoms again!). Remove the burgers and buns from the grill. Spread a little basil pesto on the bottoms of each bun, then place the beef patties on, topped with a slice of mozzarella, a basil leave, and the top of the bun. Serve will fries, chips, a salad, or whatever floats your boat, and enjoy!

Burgers, sizzling away on the grill. Gotta love those bright red chunks of sun-dried tomatoes!

These burgers are bursting with flavor—they are definitely near the top of my list of best meals I've made and  this recipe is most certainly going in my "Keep" pile. Sun-dried tomatoes are sweet, tangy, and rich, and they add a pop of flavor to the meat. The pesto is garlicky, spicy, and fresh and, like the sun-dried tomatoes in the patty, it packs a punch that really heightens the overall flavor of the burger. Soft, creamy mozzarella and fresh basil leaves add lightness and freshness to the burger. All of that on a slightly chewy, slightly crunchy ciabatta roll and you've got yourself one hell of a burger, Italian-style.

Recipe: Baked Spinach, Tomato, and Chicken Pasta

I'm notoriously bad about taking multiple grocery store trips during the week instead of getting all my shopping done in one trip. I'm also terrible about wasting certain ingredients, like heavy cream, extra veggies, and random ingredients that I don't use often (like ricotta cheese or plain yogurt). My other bad habit is not doing the math before I make a recipe: cooking for three people means I usually follow recipes that serve four people, but sometimes I buy too much of each ingredient or I accidentally make too much when I cook a meal. That all being said, I was determined to at least get one of these things right this week, so I tackled bad habit number one: I picked out four recipes and did all of my shopping on Sunday. Unfortunately, my parents failed to mention that there would only be one night this week that we'd all be home for dinner. Even more unfortunate, they decided they wanted to go out to eat that night. So, I've got all of these wonderful recipes to make and fresh ingredients slowly going bad in my refrigerator and I'm pretty bummed out. Luckily, I got a chance to cook for my dad and myself tonight while my mother was out at an event with friends, and I decided to try one of the recipes I'd picked out for this week: baked spinach and chicken pasta (adapted from this recipe). Wilted spinach, fresh tomatoes, and melted mozzarella pair perfectly with warm pasta shells and diced, sauteed chicken. (On an unrelated note, my birthday is this time, next week, and I'm sincerely hoping that I get a new camera and a spotlight, because I assure you, it will improve my pictures exponentially; for now, bear with me).

Serves: 4
Prep. time: 10-15 minutes
Cooking time: 40 minutes
Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients

• 1/2 lb. (8 oz.) medium pasta shells
• 2-3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, diced
• Olive oil
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 3-4 cups fresh spinach, chopped
• 1/4 cup white wine
• 3 tomatoes, chopped
• 8 oz. mozzarella cheese (I used a ball, and diced it into cubes, but you can use shredded cheese, slices, or whatever preparation you prefer)

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350*F. Bring a medium pot of salted water to a boil, then cook the pasta according to the package instructions (about 11 minutes). Drain and set aside, covered.
Heat a little olive oil (enough to just cover the bottom the pan) in a large pan. Add the chicken and cook it until it is lightly browned and mostly cooked through (about 10 minutes). Add the minced garlic and cook for about 2-3 minutes. Add the spinach, white wine, and salt and cook until the spinach begins to wilt. Add the tomatoes for just a minute to heat them up a bit. Add the pasta to the pan with the chicken and spinach mixture and toss to mix. Place the mixture in a casserole dish, top with mozzarella cheese, and bake for 25 minutes. Serve topped with Italian cheese and seasonings of your choice.

Topped with dried Italian seasoning, dried basil, and some Italian cheese

The flavors in this dish are delicate, so you might like to add a little extra seasoning once you've served the meal. This is the kind of dish that you can easily experiment with—I've already re-imagined this dish with sun-dried tomatoes instead of fresh tomatoes, to give it a little kick, and fresh basil mixed in with the spinach to add some fresh, crisp flavor. You can play around with different melting cheeses, substitute shrimp for chicken, add fresh herbs to the spinach mixture, or even try a different type of pasta—that's the beauty of this dish: you can make it any way you want it. The version I've shared is light and delicious though, and really easy to throw together on a busy weeknight.

Recipe: Ziti with Prosciutto, Asparagus, and Mozzarella

My parents are driving over to State College tonight and spending most of Saturday there, so I was left to fend for myself for dinner tonight. I'd thought about just tossing together a salad or heating up a Smart Ones meal (hey, even cooks are entitled to a few "off" nights), but I hadn't had much to eat today and I was craving one of my all time favorite dishes (and the dish my boyfriend most often asks me to make): Giada De Laurentiis' Ziti with Asparagus, Smoked Mozzarella, and Prosciutto (from her Everday Italian cookbook). Now, I have a habit of tweaking almost every dish I make (sometimes even on the first try making them, which is typically a no-no in the cooking world), and this one is no exception. I use regular mozzarella instead of smoked and I saute the prosciutto to give it a little crunch in the pasta. I'm also at that stage in my cooking where I only loosely follow measurements and timers, and once I've made something once, I can usually do it again and again without the recipe by my side. So, I'll share her recipe, but share the way I make it and do my best with the technical stuff, like measurements and timing.

Serves: 4
Prep. time: 10-15 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients

• Salt and pepper
• Butter or margarine
• Dried basil
• 8 oz. dried ziti or other tubular pasta (about 1/2 a box of pasta)
• 1 lb. asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces (they're sold in bundles, and I usually use the whole thing)
• 2 tbsp. olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 3 oz. (about 1/2 cup) mozzarella cheese, diced (I just buy an 8 oz. Bel Gioioso brand mozzarella ball...and use all of it...what can I say?—I like cheese!)
• 3 oz. thinly sliced prosciutto, cut into small squares
• 3 tbsp. thinly sliced fresh basil
• Italian cheese (to sprinkle on top of the finished product)

Directions
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the ziti and cook for 5 minutes, stirring often. Add the asparagus and cook until the pasta is al dente and the asparagus is bright green and crisp, about 5 minutes. Drain the pasta and asparagus, reserving 1 cup of the cooking liquid (I typically don't reserve any liquid, but if you want a wetter pasta, or more of a sauce, keep it).
In the meantime, while the ziti and asparagus are cooking together, heat the olive oil in a medium skillet over a medium flame. Add the minced garlic and prosciutto and cook the prosciutto until it turns to a darker brown/pink and is slightly crispy. Toss the cooked prosciutto, cubes of mozzarella, and fresh basil with the pasta and add in butter (about 1 tbsp.), olive oil (about 4 tbsp.), dried basil, salt, and pepper, to taste. Sprinkle with the Italian cheese of your choice and serve.

This dish is very filling and reheats wonderfully. The prosciutto gives it a bit of a salty flavor, while the butter and olive oil create a light, almost-creamy sauce (trust me, you don't need cheesy or tomato-packed sauces to make pasta delicious). Be forewarned: The mozzarella will melt quickly and it can make the dish a little tricky to eat (you may even need a butter knife to cut through the melty, stringy cheese), but I personally love getting globs of the cheese in my bites of pasta.  All in all, a delicious and easy dish to make, and perfect for lunch the next day.