Memorial Day BBQ- Italian Sausage and Peppers Burgers with Zucchini and Eggplant Chips

Memorial Day has arrived!! Which officially means that beach season is here, I can finally enjoy a  stroll on the beach in my best bathing suit and a nice, cold ice cream (ahem, gelato) cone in hand. Memorial Day weekend is also the PERFECT excuse to invite some friends over, blast some music and throw a party, but not just any party, a BBQ of course! Now, some of us don’t have BBQ’s. Maybe we don’t know how to actually work a BBQ in the backyard or if you’re a city girl like me, you can’t have one in an apartment obviously. But that doesn’t mean you can’t throw a wonderful mock bbq!! And because I always have to put my own twist on everything, I just have to throw an Italian BBQ!

Now, when I think of Memorial Day and eating in someone’s backyard or even on my own terrace (I’m in NYC, it’s as close to a backyard as I’m gonna get!!) I love the idea of getting my hands messy and nothing says messy to me like a burger, but not just any burger. My Italian Sausage and Peppers Burger!! A delicious burger made with sausage and beef, topped with caramelized peppers and onions and fresh fontina!! And of course, you need something on the side, right? Well what goes better with a burger than chips!!! But again, I have to put my own fun twist on everything, so I’m making eggplant and zucchini chips!!!! And to enjoy with these delicious treats, some garlic aioli!! 

This is the perfect meal to enjoy over Memorial Day weekend! Buon Appetito!!

Italian Sausage and Peppers Burgers

The Burger Part

¾ pound ground lean beef

¾ pound sausage (you can use already ground sauce or around 2-3 links depending on the size)

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. pepper

1 tsp. crushed red pepper

1 tsp. Italian seasoning

If you are using sausage links, start by taking the case off of each link. Add to a bowl with the ground beef. Add salt, pepper, crushed red pepper and Italian seasoning. I use my kitchen aid electric hand mixer with dough hooks to combine the meat, if you don’t have something like that; you can combine it gently with your hands, but not too much!! Once the meat is combined, form into patties. Prepare your pan, grill, BBQ, whatever you’re using, with some oil. Put the patties down. Since these are made with sausage, you have to make sure they are thoroughly cooked through; NO ONE WANTS TO EAT RAW PORK!! Cook for around 6-10 minutes on each side.

The Pepper and Onion Part

1 large sweet onion

3 cubanelle peppers

2 tbsp. oil

Clean your peppers, and then slice into thin strips, along with the onions. Prepare a medium size pan (or grill or bbq) with the oil. Add the peppers and onions and cook over low heat until they are nice and caramelized, around 40 minutes. I prefer cooking them on low heat so they don’t burn and get hard.

The Cheese Part

6 slices of fresh fontina

The Assembling of the Burger

Get yourself a nice fresh ciabatta or focaccia roll (like I did!!), slice it in half and put it on your grill or bbq for a minute or so to get a nice smoky taste. Take the bread off and add your burger, a nice serving of the peppers and onions and a slice or two of fontina.

Zucchini and Eggplant Chips

2 Japanese eggplants (I like to use them because of the size, they’re perfect for chips!)

2 zucchini

1 cup of oil (for frying)

3/4 cup of cornstarch

¼ cup of flour

1 tsp. of baking powder

1 ½ teaspoons of salt

½ teaspoon black pepper

½ teaspoon of garlic powder

½ teaspoon Italian seasoning

½ cup of water

1 egg

Clean your eggplants and zucchini and dry them. Cut the zucchini and eggplant into very thin slices (You can make them however thin or thick you like, but they will fry better when they are thin and taste even crispier.)

Mix all of your dry ingredients, the cornstarch, flour, baking soda, salt, black pepper, garlic powder and Italian seasoning. Then add your water and egg and beat lightly.

Use a deep enough pan to fry. Set your stove on high heat and put the oil in the pan. You will want to wait for it to really heat up before beginning to fry. Once it is hot, dip your vegetables in the batter and carefully immerse in the oil. Allow each side to fry for at least two minutes. Take the vegetables and put on a wire rack to cool. Salt lightly and enjoy!!

Garlic Aioli

1 cup of real mayonnaise

¼ cup olive oil with roasted garlic

½ tsp. pepper

½ tsp. salt

1 tbsp. paprika

Simply mix and of the ingredients together in a food processor and pulse a few times until the roasted garlic is broken down. Enjoy on the burger or with the chips!!

Enjoy these crispy delicious treats with your burger and a nice cold beer (it is Memorial Day weekend, I think beer might be more fitting than wine), put on some music and have some fun with friends and family this weekend and let’s kick off the summer right!! Mangia Bene!! 

Burgers and Chips with dip: An American classic with an Italian twist

Now that the weather in New York is getting so beautiful, I started to think of summer. A relaxing walk on the beach, a cool swim in the pool and all of those tempting barbeques. When I think of summer, what comes to mind is a big juicy, mouthwatering burger slathered with flavored mayonnaise and a side of chips. But, while I want to keep most of my posts traditional, I also want to mix it up a little and have some fun. So when I was thinking about said burger and chips, I wanted to give them an Italian twist on it. And so ladies and gentlemen, without further ado, I present: Italian sausage burgers with zucchini chips and pesto aioli.   

Il secondo (second course, main course)

My mother first made these burgers for my family this past summer. They are so simple to make, but I promise you, they will be most impressive at your next barbeque. When my mama made these, my brother and father were raving about them for days. It took me a few times to finally try them, but when I did….wow. That’s all I can say. They are juicy and perfectly seasoned. But you know what, enough talk about them. I’ll let you be the judge.

Italian Sausage Burgers

1 pound of ground Italian sausage (hot or sweet, whatever you prefer)
Salt
Pepper
Chopped Italian parsley
Italian seasoning
Garlic powder
Onion powder
4 tablespoons grated parmigiana

Put your ground Italian sausage in a large bowl. Add your salt, pepper, parsley, Italian seasoning, garlic powder, onion powder and 4 tablespoons of grated parmesan. All of these spices are to taste, you can add as little or as much as you would like depending on how intense you like the flavor. Mix all of your meat and seasonings. Using your hands, form into 4 patties.

Prepare a pan with 3 tablespoons of oil and put your patties on the pan. Make sure each side cooks for around twelve minutes; you need to make sure that they are thoroughly cooked.  All together, it will probably take around 25 minutes for them to finish cooking. (These must be cooked slowly or the pork could get tough) Serve with a dollop of pesto aioli (recipe below.) I like to eat mine on a thin, whole grain bun, but may I also suggest serving them on ciabatta or focaccia? I also like to add a few pieces of arugula in place of lettuce, just another little twist.

Pesto Aioli:

4 tablespoons of mayonnaise
3 tablespoons of pesto (prepared pesto is easily found in Italian food shops)

Simply mix the mayonnaise and pesto until smooth and creamy.

Il Contorno (side dishes)

What’s great about zucchini is that you can slice it very thin; so it really gives that feeling and taste of potato chips. When they are lightly coated in a chickpea flour mix, they fry up nice and crunchy. I like to dip mine in the pesto mayonnaise instead of the usual onion dip.

Zucchini Chips

2 zucchinis
¼ cup of chickpea flour
Salt
Pepper
Finely chopped Italian parsley
3 tablespoons of grated parmigiana
1 egg mixed with 2 tablespoons of water
4 tablespoons of oil (for frying)

Thinly slice your zucchini. Put it in on a paper towel and salt it so it removes most of the water, let it sit for a few minutes.

Combine your chickpea flour, salt, pepper, parsley and grated parmesan in a flat, shallow bowl. This will make it easier to fully coat with the flour mixture.

In another bowl, whisk your egg and add 2 tablespoons of water.

Take the zucchini slices and dip in the egg mixture, make sure they get wet enough so everything sticks. Then put it with the flour mix and coat evenly.

Heat your pan and add 4 tablespoons of oil. Put the zucchini chips in the pan and allow to fry for around 5 minutes on each side. Gently use tongs to remove them from the oil and put on a paper towel so the excess oil can drain off. Salt again. Enjoy with your burger and some pesto aioli for dipping!!

While these are great to serve at a summer barbeque, why wait?!?! So go cook up your burgers and chips and eat outside if you can and have a taste of summer early. Boun Appetito!