Have you fired up the grill yet this year? Where I live, we’ve had an unseasonably warm winter and now spring. (And I don’t mean warm-for-upstate-New-York…we have antifreeze in our blood and think 45 degree fahrenheit weather in January is a heat wave. I mean warm. Summertime warm, with temps reaching the upper 80’s at times.)
We’ve fired up the grill a few times (old favorites like steak, Chiavetta’s chicken, and marinated salmon), but these pizza burgers were the first burgers of the year for us. They’re easy to make, come together fast, and are a real hit with kiddos as well as adults.
Scroll down to the bottom of this post for the announcement!
Pizza Burgers
Serves 4
1 batch Chunky Pizza Sauce (recipe below)
1 lb lean ground beef
1 small onion, grated
1 teaspoon steak seasoning*
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon dried Italian herb seasoning
4 oz mozzarella cheese, thinly sliced
4 hamburger buns, split and toasted or grilled
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley (for garnish)
* The steak seasoning I use contains sea salt, black pepper, garlic, coriander seed, mustard seed, dill seed, and red pepper.
Use your hands to combine the ground beef, grated onion, steak seasoning, Worcestershire sauce, and Italian herb seasoning in a large bowl, being careful not to over-mix the meat. Divide the meat into 4 portions and shape each into a patty.
Grill the burgers over medium-high heat until done (hamburger meat should be cooked until it’s no longer pink in the center), about 4 to 5 minutes per side. When the burgers have about 2 minutes left to cook on the second side, spoon about 3 tablespoons of Chunky Pizza Sauce on top of each, and then top each with 1 oz of cheese. Cover the grill (or tent a piece of foil over the burgers) so the cheese melts.
Transfer the burgers onto the buns and sprinkle the parsley on top of the cheese; serve the burgers along with the rest of the Chunky Pizza Sauce for dipping.
Chunky Pizza Sauce
Yields about 1 cup
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 (14.5 oz) can Hunt’s No Salt Added Diced Tomatoes, undrained
3 tablespoons tomato paste
1/2 teaspoon dried Italian herb seasoning
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
Pinch black pepper
Preheat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat; add the garlic and cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add the canned tomatoes, tomato paste, Italian herb seasoning, sugar, salt, and pepper, and cook until thickened, about 5 minutes, stirring frequently and using a wooden spoon to break up the tomato pieces a bit. Use the sauce in the recipe for Pizza Burgers.
Announcement:
What: A virtual cooking school class called Firing Up the Grill: New Recipes, Flavors and Ingredients to Kick-Start Barbeque Season; the class is part of the Cooking Connections series on The Motherhood. You can check out great easy grilling recipes ahead of time on Ready Set Eat.
When: Thursday, April 5, from 1:00 to 1:30 p.m. ET.
Where: The Motherhood
About the class: Celebrity chef George Duran will be coming to us via live video feed from his own backyard as he shares his top grilling techniques and new flavor twists on old favorites.
Giveaway! We are also giving away two summer grilling gift baskets for class participation! There are two methods of entry if you’d like to get involved:
1) Post your own idea for a hot dog or hamburger recipe in the text chat here. You must use one of these required ingredients in your recipe: Hebrew National, Ro*Tel, Hunt’s Ketchup, Hunt’s Canned Tomatoes, Gulden’s Mustard, or Wolf Chili.
2) Go to ReadySetEat.com, pick a recipe you’d like to try the next time you grill or host a barbecue, and post the name of the recipe in the text chat here.
The class is sponsored by ReadySetEat.com and ConAgra Foods, and it is hosted by TheMotherhood. I’ll be there with these other bloggers to co-host the class:
Amy, Cajun Inspired Living
Caryn, Rockin’ Mama
Jennifer, Mom Spotted
Kate, Stolen Moments Cooking
Kelly, Kansas City Mamas
Lisa, Life with Lisa
Monet, Anecdotes and Apple Cores
Vanessa, The Sew*er, The Caker, The Copycat-Maker
Victoria, Veep Veep
I hope you’ll join us there!
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Scrumptious! I’d love one of those burgers now. *drool*
Cheers,
Rosa
Mmmmmmm.. these burgers look so juicy and flavorful! I love making all kinds of burgers when the weather in nice.
What a fun class idea! And these burgers?! Genius! Hubby hasn’t wanted to turn OFF the grill here lately, so these will be made :) Two of his favorite foods together as one!
Yup—pizza and burgers are awesome…putting them together sounds magical!
Thanks for sharing…we haven’t grilled yet (but we don’t have a grill). I’m planning to use my Mom’s since she lives across the street, and just waiting for them to get a new propane tank!
So where in Upstate NY are you? Are we close to each other? I keep meaning to ask you exactly where you are because I’ve gotten clues and think I know, but didn’t want to be totally specific and ask here since I thought maybe you were trying to keep that private.
I’ve been LOVING this unseasonably warm weather and have definitely been craving a good veggie burger. I think a pizza veg burger is SO going to have to happen!
Such a brilliant idea to do a pizza-flavored burger. And I’m loving the fresh and homemade pizza sauce!
Did someone say pizza? Always gets me excited. As do these burgers. It’s unseasonably warm here 12 months out of the year, so the grill is always on.
I gotta say, I was expecting a different announcement…=)
Good luck with your event.
Laz, Lol, I know — that announcement is coming on Monday! I’m writing up a whole special post for it. ;)
I haven’t had pizza burgers since grammar school, and these look so much better than what they served to us in school!
What a creative burger idea! In California we grill all year round…with breaks for rain etc, lol.
Sounds like a fun class :)
I think a good marinara sauce goes well with so many dishes! J does too. I’m totally making these burgers! We’ve already made pizza on the grill
Faith I thought this was going to be about your book! The class sounds great – have fun with it :)
Alyssa, I’m writing a special post for that announcement — coming on Monday! :)
Those look yummy! The class sounds great! Wish I could attend but taxes are callin’ my name (all day long – ugh).
It’s been unseasonably warm (hot) here in VA as well, but we haven’t done a lot of grilling yet. It’s time to start though, and these burgers look scrumptious! :)
These pizza burgers look fantastic. Who wouldn’t love these! Your BBQ class sounds like fun. Hopefully I will have a chance to tune it.
If I could eat a hotdog without it staying with me all day I’d grill a premium frank. It’s a hotdog wrapped in bacon and covered with cheese. So good!
A much better way to have pizza
Can’t believe that I would actually crave for a burger!! These look delish.
Gorgeous! This reminds me of an experiment I did for “pizza sloppy joes” that was a huge fail. I pass the idea onto you, as I know you could make it work. Or, more likely, it was an idea that wasn’t meant to succeed! haha Your burgers look and sound really good.
I love the idea of pizza burgers – these look delicious! Perfect weekend dinner :)
man, do i love a blanket of melted cheese. :)
Ohhh another creative idea from you :) I love it! Pizza and a burger all into one YAY! I know Mr Bao will love this! Oh damn i missed out on the event :( I was packing and getting ready to come home to Melb >_<
We love pizza burgers can’t wait to try these!