Baby Bacon Caprese Burger
June is Burger Extravaganza Month here at Foodo. You can also check out all of our burgers HERE
Our Guest Chef today is a good friend of Mary & John’s: Culinary Cory. We met him, years ago, when he was fresh out of college and just plain ol’ Cory. He lives in Pittsburgh now, and we miss him dearly! Do click on over, and check out his food blog!
~ Cory ~
The saying “good things come in small packages” rings true when it comes to these beautiful baby burgers. When I’m looking to keep my summer barbeque menu simple or an easy weekday outdoor dinner, I look for creative ways to perk up traditional fare.
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What makes this recipe unique is it captures the flavors of summer at their peak of freshness with vibrant red tomatoes, creamy texture of fresh mozzarella and basil leaves plucked from hearty stalks. I also decided to give the burger a burst of flavor by mixing bits of bacon into the meat before cooking instead of the usual bacon on top. Be sure to cook the bacon before adding it to the meat mixture. Uncooked bacon doesn’t get crisp and becomes rubbery.
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one year ago: Retro Bread Pudding
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Baby Bacon Caprese Burgers
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4 strips bacon, roughly chopped
1 lb. ground beef
4 oz. fresh mozzarella, sliced
8-10 fresh basil leaves
2 vine ripe tomatoes, sliced
1-2 Tbl. mayo or Dijon mustard
8-10 mini buns or dinner rolls
salt and pepper
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Cook the chopped bacon in a medium fry pan until crisp. Drain the bacon bits on paper towels and allow to cool. Toss the ground beef and cooked bacon in a medium mixing bowl until the bacon is completely incorporated into the meat.
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Portion the beef into 2-3 oz patties. You should get 8 -10 patties out of a pound. The diameter should be slightly larger than the mini buns. A medium sized ice cream scoop works really well. Season both sides with salt and pepper.
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Grill or fry the burgers for 4-5 minutes or until cooked through. Place a single burger inside each bun. Then layer each burger with mozzarella, basil leaves and tomatoes. Spread a small dollop of mayo or Dijon mustard on the inside part of each top bun. Makes 8-10 burgers, depending on the size.
The burgers look so cute. They sounds yummy, too. Can’t wait to try this recipe.
Love it!
These wouldn’t last more than 5 seconds on my kitchen counter! They look so cute and I bet they’re so tasty!
just when I thought you’ve created the best here comes another one!
a wonderful combo!
These look so stinkin’ good! Beautiful pictures too!
Cute, petite, and tasty 🙂
I think I could eat a hand full of these babies ….
Adorable burgers…
these look absolutely yummy!!!
Awww…I miss you guys too! Thanks for the guest post opportunity!
Oh, yum! These are so cute.
OMG…what an incredible assortment of burgers!!! I want one of each!!!
I am so happy to have found your blog!
cheers
Dennis
Nice! I’ll have to try this sometime.
Those are just plain adorable. I want to pinch their cheeks.
Burgers + caprese salad = WIN!
I love the flavors of the caprese salad. How perfect. I also love sliders a lot. You can eat 3 of them and they are so tiny. Yum. Thanks for the recipe and the great picture – making me so hungry.
Leave off the mayo and mustard and you have the perfect burger IMHO! I love the mini burgers as they are the perfect serving size for those on diets and those who aren’t can take more than one!