“We love burgers. A lot. We made SO many burgers to perfect this recipe. Basically, it’s a turbo-charged cheeseburger. And, well . . . yeah, it’s pretty perfect. If you can’t find mortadella, don’t sweat it — it’ll still be fantastic without it.“

MAKES 4 BURGERS

600g wagyu mince

4 slices mortadella (look in the deli section of your supermarket, or ask your butcher)

8 slices Edam or Swiss chees

20 pickled jalapeño slices

couple of pieces shredded iceberg lettuce 12 x 5mm-wide

slices of ripe heirloom tomato

20 slices gherkin

sprinkle of very finely diced raw white onion

½ cup canola oil, for cooking

¼ cup Sarah’s Burger Sauce

salt and pepper

4 nice buns (we use Japanese milk buns from Bread & Butter Bakery in Auckland)

For Sarah’s Burger Sauce

½ cup Heinz Tomato Ketchup

½ cup French’s American Mustard

½ cup mayo

4 tsp Lucky Taco Habanero Hot Sauce

Start by making Sarah’s Burger Sauce — just put everything in a bowl and mix well, until all the sauces have combined. If you like it super spicy, go harder on the habanero hot sauce!

Take your mince, divide it in four and squash it down to about 1cm thick before it hits the pan. The patties will start off wider than your buns but will shrink when cooked, so should fit right when you’re building the burgers. You want each pattie to be the same diameter as the bun — you DON’T want a mouthful of bun without any meat. That is a burger crime! Set the pattie aside.

Dry-fry your slices of mortadella. Go low and slow. It will burn quickly if you’re not careful. Turn every few seconds with a pair of tongs, to ensure you get it nice and crispy but not burnt! Once cooked, place on paper towel to drain.

On a chopping board, lay out a piece of Edam or Swiss. Place pickled jalapeño slices on top of cheese and lay the other piece of cheese directly on top, like a
wee cheesy duvet with jalapeños inside. Repeat for each burger. Prep your iceberg, tomato, gherkin and onion so they’re ready to go.

Okay, it’s time to fry! This works perfectly on the barbie, or use a hot frying pan. Add oil to barbie or pan and cook patties for 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Flip. Season reverse side with salt and pepper and fry for another 2 minutes. Flip again and place jalapeño cheese duvet on top of pattie. Leave for another

2 minutes. BOOM! If you’re doing this in a frying pan, put a lid over it for 1 minute. This helps melt the cheese.

Slice the buns in half. You can place them in the oven at 200°C for about 3 minutes, or toast them in the pan. (We chucked them in the oven, as meat pattie madness was occupying frying space. And they were delish done in the oven. So would highly recommend that method, if you have time to preheat your oven!)

Now you’re ready to build your burgers.

Dollop a generous blob of burger sauce on the base bun. Our burger aficionado friends say that lettuce on the base after the sauce is best, so the bun doesn’t go soggy . . . We totally dig that vibe, so either put it on top like in our photo or change it around to be on the bottom.

It WON’T make any difference to the taste. Next is your gooey, cheesy, spicy pattie.

Then the gherkin slices.

Then the tomato slices.

Then the slice of crispy mortadella.

Add a smear of burger sauce to the top bun. Then a generous sprinkle of finely diced onion on the burger sauce.

And put the lid on top of the build.

Your burger should now be a masterpiece!

Note - We serve these burgers with a big bowl of curly fries, chilli salt and oven-roasted broccoli with toasted almonds, lemon juice and Parmesan. Plus some Lucky Taco Chipotle Aïoli for the fries (mayo + crushed garlic + lemon juice + Lucky Taco Chipotle Hot Sauce + salt). Epic!

ead Otis and Sarah’s Kitchen Confessional

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