Pizza Burgers

Have you fired up the grill yet this year?  Pizza burgers are easy to make.

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. 

Directions:
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

Directions;
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.