This Mex-Italian Burger is a blend of two of my favorite cuisines for one great barbecue taste.
We love grill time at our house, and nothing is better on the grill than a home made burger. They put any fast food burger to shame and are simple to prepare.
This Mex- Italian Burger combines the two culinary methods into one rich and delicious burger.
Mex-Italian Burger
This burger combines the creamy taste of my favorite appetizer – guacamole, with a delicious blend of beef and fresh basil, a staple of Italian cooking, for one delicious burger.
To make this burger, first prepare your guacamole. I love the richness and color that this adds to the burger.
Next combine the meat, basil and seasonings and let them sit for a while so that the flavors will combine. Be sure to make a depression in the middle of each burger. 
Why? When hamburger patties cook, they shrink. When they shrink the edges tend to break apart which will cause cracks to form in the patty.
To make sure this doesn’t happen, you need the burger patty to be thinner in the middle than it is around the edges. Slightly depress the center of the patty to push a little bit of the meat towards the edges.
This will give you an even patty once it has finished cooking.
Then on to the grill! I like the idea of brushing olive oil on the buns for a nice taste too!
Top with the guacamole and a tomato slice and bite into one of the best burgers you will have eaten. Great with some baked oven fries to keep the calories down a little. Very plump and juicy burger.
The indentation before cooking really helped to make this a great burger!
Enjoy!
Mex-Italian Burger - It's Grill Time
Ingredients
Burger
- 1 ½ lbs ground chuck— 80% lean
- ¼ cup dried basil leaves, finely chopped
- ½ tsp Kosher salt
- ½ freshly ground black peppercorn
- ¼ cup of canola or light olive oil
Guacamole
- 6 medium avocados— halved, pitted, peeled, and diced
- 1 large tomato, seeded and diced
- 4 cloves of garlic, finely minced
- 3 tbsp fresh lime juice
- zest of ½ lime
- ½ cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves plus a bit more for garnish
- ½ cup finely chopped green onions
- 4 hamburger buns, Italian style rolls, split, or 8 Ciabatta Bread slices
- 4 slices of tomato
Instructions
- Place the avocados in large bowl and add the lemon juice.
- Crush avocados coarsely, add the chopped tomatoes and minced garlic, and mix in ½ cup each of chopped fresh cilantro and onions. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Cover and chill for at least 1 hour.
- In a large bowl, combine the ground beef, dried basil, Kosher salt and pepper until just well combined. Gently divide the meat mixture into four equal portions.
- Form each portion into a patty that is ¾— 1 inch thick and about 4 ½ inches in diameter.
- Make a deep depression in the center of each of the meat patties with your thumb.
- Once the patties have been formed, place them on a clean plate, sprinkle both sides with salt and pepper, cover and refrigerate for at least 20 minutes.
- Heat the grill to medium -high heat and coat grill grates with cooking oil so as the patties will not stick.
- Remove the patties from refrigeration, brush the burgers with olive oil, and place the patties on the hot grill.
- Grill and sear patties over medium-high heat for 4— 5 minutes per side being sure they are cooked through and have reached an internal temperature of 165 degrees F.
- Remove and let them rest for 2— 3 minutes.
- Place patties on the roll and top with liberal amount of the home made guacamole. Garnish with extra basil and a slice of tomatos. Top with the rest of the roll . Enjoy.