Wooded Pine Burger
From FeastWithSophie.com
Ingredients
- 23 oz assorted mushrooms
- 1 large yellow onion, finely diced
- 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 tsp each dried sage and thyme
- 30 g pine nuts
- 1/2 cup grated pecorino romano
- 1/2 bread crumbs
- 1 egg
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- salt
- fresh rosemary, thyme and/or sage,
- 1/8 tsp cyanine pepper
- For yoghurt sauce:
- 1-2 tsp truffle oil
- 1 cup Greek Yogurt
Instructions
1. Remove any stems or dirt from your mushrooms and spread them out (whole) on a baking sheet. Drizzle them with 1/2 tbsp of olive oil and sprinkle some salt over top. If the mushrooms are crowded, use two baking sheets - this will help them brown more evenly and prevent them from stewing. Optionally, toss in a few fresh sprigs of rosemary, thyme and/or sage for extra fragrance.
2. Bake the mushrooms at 200 degrees C (390 F) for about 20 minutes or until they start to become golden, then increase the temperature to 225 C (435 F) for another 5-10 minutes to remove any excess moisture and brown them further.
3. Meanwhile, toast your pine nuts on the stove. In a pan over medium-high heat, toss them and keep a close eye on them until they are lightly golden in colour (this can happen deceptively fast so do watch them!). Remove them from the pan and set aside.
4. In the same pan over a medium-high heat, sauté your diced onion in the remaining olive oil (another 1/2 tbsp) until translucent. Add garlic and salt, sauté another 2-3 minutes, and transfer into a large bowl or a food processor.
5. When the mushrooms are done, discard any fresh herbs (if using), and pop the mushrooms into your processor or bowl with the onion. Toss in the dried herbs.
6. Using a hand blender or your food processor, pulse the mixture until it is a well-incorporated paste, but not entirely smooth. You want some texture in there.
7. Now add the remaining ingredients - reserving about 1/6th of the pine nuts for serving) and use a spoon to incorporate them into the mixture.
8. The resulting mixture should be fairly sticky, and it should be easy (albeit messy) to handle. If you find the mixture too wet, add more breadcrumbs in 1/8th cup increments.
9. Shape into patties using your hands (the recipe yields between 4 and 6, depending on the size of them). Bake in the oven at 225 C (435 F) for about 10 minutes, then flip and return to the oven for another 5-10 minutes until golden brown.
For the truffle yoghurt sauce
1. Start with 1 tsp of truffle oil and mix it into the yoghurt. It is a very strong flavour so give it a taste at this point and decide if you'd like more! Add it in small increments to prevent it from becoming too dominant.
For serving
Grate some fresh pecorino over each burger and top it with a few toasted pine nuts. If you are eating them with buns, pop a dollop of the yoghurt sauce onto each half of the bun. Otherwise, serve the sauce of the size. Enjoy!