The Boston Burgah

 Confession time: When I watch the Food Network's Next Food Network Star I like to play along by imagining what I would make were I to be a contestant on the show (attention internet gods who arrange such things). The last episode I watched had the contestants make burgers that represented a certain region in America (it must have been in anticipation of the 4th).  I started thinking about New England, which lead me to think of Boston, and every time I think of Boston I think of the Red Sox and Fenway Park. Fenway Park is known for (among so many other things) the street vendors who serve the Italian sausages that the locals call "street meat". Those Italian sausages are slow cooked on a grill along side onions and peppers. They are served inside a crusty roll topped with onions and peppers. I decided that were I a contestant on the Next Food Network Star (hint hint) I would make a Boston Burgah inspired by Fenway Park's street meat. 

I've been mulling over the idea for a few days now and since we were having friends over for lunch today I decided to try out my Boston Burgah idea. (Heck, if you can't experiment on your friends, who can you experiment on?) I also had a package of ground pork in the freezer from this month's meat CSA, which was perfect for the Boston Burgah. I picked up a package of sweet Italian sausages, removed the meat from the casing and mixed it into the ground pork. The mixture was a little wetter than ground beef tends to be, so I added a few bread crumbs to absorb the moisture. While the burgers were grilling I cooked up some peppers and onions, in order to stay true to the original. We served them topped with a slice of provolone and the peppers and onions.  The Hubs said that they only thing they were missing was the thick casing on the street meat, but he decided that not having the casing wasn't a bad thing.

Boston Burgahs

1 pound ground pork

1 pound sweet Italian sausage

1/3 cup bread crumbs

1 large vidalia onion

1 large red bell pepper

1 tbsp olive oil

6 slices provolone cheese

6 crusty hamburger rolls

Mix together the ground pork and the Italian sausage meet.  Add the bread crumbs as needed until the mixture is firm and sticks together well.  Form the meat into 6 large patties (or 8 smaller ones).  Refrigerate for 5 minutes to rest while your grill comes to temperature.  

While the meat is resting, slice the onion into half-moon shapes and the pepper into long strips.  Place the onions peppers and olive oil into a large skillet and saute over medium heat for 10 - 15 minutes, until they have softened and begun to caramalize.  

Cook the burgers until the center reaches 160 degrees.  Serve on a crusty roll topped with a slice of provolone, the peppers and onions, and condiments of your choice.  Bon Appetit!

Makes 6 burgers

Alternate Method:  These would be a good way to dress up ground turkey burgers, adding turkey sausage to the mixture.  Also, don't be tied to the Italian sausage, any kind of sausage would be good here, just adjust your toppings and cheese accordingly.

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