Salsa Verde Burgers with Fontina Watermelon and Basil
Salsa Verde Burgers with Fontina Watermelon and Basil, vibrant twist on classic American comfort food.
I bet you had no idea when I posted Creamy Avocado Salsa Verde on Monday, that I was scheming behind the scenes.
It was all part of the master-plan to introduce you to this oddly intriguing hamburger.
We eat a lot of hamburgers. Although my hubby would gladly dine on fine cuisine anytime the opportunity arises, he’s really a burger and pizza kind of guy.
Needless to say, when your husband craves hamburgers all the time, you find ways to get creative with them. We’ve made a plethora of hamburger recipes over the years.
Our latest creation, Salsa Verde Burgers with Fontina Watermelon and Basil, is essentially a glorified cheeseburger. The patty is a simple beef patty topped with rich melty fontina cheese. All the bells and whistles are in the “fixins.”
Instead of using plain-jane lettuce and tomato, we decided to give basil leaves and watermelon a go.
Watermelon mimics the moist clean texture of a good slice of tomato, but offers a much sweeter bite. The delicate essence of licorice from the basil leaves, is the perfect accompaniment to the watermelon and salty cheese. Finally, creamy and zesty Salsa Verde gives the burger the necessary kick of acidity and spice to create the perfect balance of flavors.
You may ask, why watermelon? Tomatoes are so ripe and plentiful this time of year; why mess with a good thing?
If you must have a tomato on your burger, I understand. Yet, watermelon is definitely worth giving a try. Sometimes all a run-of-the-mill dinner needs, is a kick in the pants and a new ingredient.
How to Make Perfect Hamburger Patties:
- Don’t overwork the meat; it will get tough. Gently toss in the seasoning, keeping the ground meat loose.
- Use a knife to separate the meat into equal portion, so you don’t have 3 uniform burgers and one “baby” burger.
- Press the meat into a ball, then flatten on wax paper and reform the edges.
- MAKE A DENT IN THE CENTER. The middle of a patty tends to puff while cooking. If you don’t do this, you’ll end up with hamburger balls.
- Make the patties slightly larger than the buns. They shrink while cooking and will end up being the same size.
- A little pink in the center is a good thing. You don’t want to eat raw burgers, but try not to overcook the patties. Pink = Juicy!
Serve These Burgers With:
Grilled Corn with Smokey lime Mayo
Other Great Summer Burgers:
Spicy Black Bean Burger ~ Eat Live Run
Tuna Burgers ~ Sippity Sup
Salsa Verde Burgers with Fontina Watermelon and Basil
Ingredients
- 2 pounds ground beef chuck
- 6 slices fontina cheese
- 6 hamburger buns
- 6 slices watermelon
- 12-18 leaves fresh basil (large)
- 1 cup salsa verde
- Salt and pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the grill to high heat. Portion and form the ground beef into six hamburger patties, making an indentation in the centers. Salt and pepper both sides of the patties.
- Slice the watermelon into 1/3-inch slices. Use a biscuit cutter to cut watermelon circles.
- Grill the hamburgers for 3-5 minutes per side. Add the fontina slices to the top of each patty 1 minutes before removing from the grill. Tent with foil to keep warm.
- Toast the buns on the grill for 30-60 seconds, until char marks form.
- Layer the bun with 2-3 large basil leaves, a watermelon circle, the patty with cheese, and top with a large spoonful of salsa verde. Serve immediately.
Hamburgers are usually a feature of fast food restaurants. The hamburgers served in major fast food establishments are usually mass-produced in factories and frozen for delivery to the site. These hamburgers are thin and of uniform thickness, differing from the traditional American hamburger prepared in homes and conventional restaurants, which is thicker and prepared by hand from ground beef. –
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LOVE your fontina-watermelon combo. I just put grilled peaches on my burger two days ago and folks looked at me like I was crazy! I’d eat two of your burgers (with a veggie pattie of course…)
Sounds like an interesting combination of flavors. Don’t think I would like it but I might give it a go. Don’t think anyone else around here would try it though.
That looks incredible!!!
Beef + Watermelon + Basil. Yum. Thoughts on grilling the watermelon disks?
You’re so clever! I’m tasting the amazing flavors as I type :)
Oh my goodness, I love that avocado salsa verde. This whole thing looks fabulous!
This is a whole picnic in a burger! The watermelon is thrilling :)
This is officially the most creative burger I’ve seen in quite some time. And that’s saying something…with all the twists on burgers that are out there!
This looks so incredible!