Lamb Burgers with Mint Pesto and Jack Cheese.
Caution: do not consume lamb burgers with mint pesto while operating a vehicle, lest you forget where you are and accidentally listen to Nickelback on the radio for a full two minutes before realizing those are two minutes of your life that you will never get back. Waaaait, who eats a lamb burger with mint pesto while driving, anyway? Get. real.
The point is, this hussy of a lamb burger is a true attention stealer. It will make you weak in the knees…bring your belly butterflies…make your skin all tingly. In a new relationship way, not a stomach flu way. Warning: consumption of this burger will likely result in feelings of jubilation whilst the taste of butter melts in your mouth and illicits pleasaaaaaaa.
Translation: make this for your significant other and you will receive some serious speechless doe eyes. Alternative translation: make this for a first dinner date. Doooooo it! There is no vegetarian version for this burger, so if your date doesn’t eat meat, I suggest finding a new date. Whoooooa getting frisky, are we? Simmer.down.
Phew!
Other than Steve Winwood, there’s not much that rivals the coolness of this burger and even that’s stretching it. Steve Winwood. Burger. Steve. Burger. AHHHH I just can pick which one’s cooler! The only thing that could tip the scale is Steve Winwood AND Eric Clapton performing together. Wait, what’s this? Boom!
Okay, coooome back, come back from youtube land no matter how much you want to click on the new Blake Shelton video that’s sitting all out of place in the sidebar. How’d that get there anyway? Okay, I lied, they didn’t actually put Blake in the sidebar. I’m just in a giving mood.
Well I see your Steve Winwood and your Eric Clapton and I raise you…sweet potatooooo FRIES! There’s no competition now.
Cha ching! Focus. I made kale and mint pesto to go on this dreamy burger. Lamb, mint, lamb, mint. Lamb burger, mint. UGH! There. are. no. words.
Sink your teeth into this, son!
Lamb Burgers with Mint Pesto
Ingredients
For the Kale and Mint Pesto:
- 4 cups tightly packed green kale leaves chopped
- 1 cup mint leaves
- ½ cup walnuts
- 3 cloves large garlic
- ¼ teaspoon salt or to taste
- ¼ cup walnut oil
For the Lamb Burgers
- 1 pound ground lamb meat
- 1 tablespoon grapeseed or olive oil
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 3 hamburger buns
- 3 slices jack cheese
- Handful spinach or spring green mix
Instructions
To make the mint and kale pesto:
- Combine all of the ingredients for the pesto except for the oil in a food processor or blender. Pulse the blender/food processor to chop the ingredients.
- Leaving the food machine on a medium speed, slowly add the oil while the it is processing.
- Pour the pesto into a bowl or container and set aside.
To prepare the lamb burgers:
- Form three burger patties out of one pound of lamb meat.
- Heat a large cast iron skillet to medium and add the butter and oil and allow it to melt.
- Once the skillet has heated completely, place the three burger patties on it and allow them to cook 5 minutes.
- Flip the patties and cook an additional 3 minutes.
- Add the slices of cheese on top and cook until cheese is melted (you can place a cover over the skillet to help melt the cheese), or until meat is cooked to desired “done-ness”
- While the burgers are cooking, put your oven on the broil setting and put the buns in the oven cut-side up to allow them to toast. Keep an eye on them and remove them once they’re golden brown and crispy.
- Prepare your burgers by spreading kale mint pesto on top of the patty and add spring greens.
- Serve with sweet potato fries and diiiive in!!
Nutrition
Also try my recipe for Kale Pesto (with basil) as an alternative to the mint pesto!
I actually was just conceptualising this in my head, apropos of another lamb burger I saw, and then BAM mint pesto lamb burger in my FACE! And it looks freaking amazing.
How did you know I had a pound of ground lamb in the freezer with no idea how to use it?
And that mint/kale pesto? Uh-huh! Thanks Julia.
Now I’m craving a lamb buger…this lamb burger! Gah, I can’t eat and drive. If I do, disaster strikes.
Lamb is my favorite meat EVERRRR!! Seriously. I used to sing “Mary had a little lamb” to my baby niece when we would have lamb at family dinners so that she wouldn’t want to eat it and there would be more for me (I must admit that I was well into my 20’s at this point). I wish I were lying, but it’s the truth. Now she is a vegetarian, and I feel partly to blame for that. BUT, there’s more lamb for me, so that makes me happy. 🙂 What kind of mother/aunt am I?? You probably don’t want to answer that. Now I want me a lamb burger for dinna.
I about spit out my tea, this made me laugh so hard! I wanted to “sing” mary had a little lamb in my blog post but was worried some animal rights activist would happen upon my post and get all huffy up in my comments. I try to dissuade folks from eating my favorite food all the time. Does that make us food aggressive? Probably. 😉
And do I care? Not even a little bit. That’s one of the perks of getting older. Although, I would sing the song and my mother would look at me and say, “JULIA!” (making sure that the accent is on the second syllable you know), which was mother-ese for “stop it and I mean it now”. Did it stop me? No. I was obsessed with making sure Katie didn’t like lamb so I could have her portion. I will say that I didn’t do that to Stephie, and now it’s her favorite meat, too. I guess I matured when I became a mother. That was a lie. I just didn’t want to fix two dinners when I was cooking. That’s the real truth. 🙂
MINT PESTO?! Straight up geeeeeenius.
(For the record, I also suggest finding a new date if yours doesn’t eat meat…but that’s because I’m a terrible person. I said it. Baha.)
Meat is..ugh…meat….it just….myyyyyy gosh….how can you NOT eat meat?? I’m so going to get in trouble for this…tail between legs. MEAT!
My brain is just BEGGIN’ for one of these burgers!!!
These lamb burgers with sweet potato fries look sooo good. Mint pesto? What an amazing idea!! Can’t wait to try your recipe!!
I love these flavors!! That mint pesto is calling my name!! Seriously, awesome burger Julia!
Yum the mint and kale pesto sounds amazing and would taste incredible with the lamb!
I love the delicious, springtime-y flavors in these burgers, Julia! They look so delicious!
Lamb burgers are the best and these look divine!
Yum! Totally in love with these lamb burgers! Need to get one in my belly asap!
Love it! I’m totally crushing on this mint pesto! Can I trade you?
Heck yes! I say we make both your version and my version and have a lamb burger fiesta. I’m dying to try your homemade mint ketchup too!!