“Green” burger with brie

There are many burgers. Some are created, but others happen from the leftovers you have at home. This is the second type resulting from leftovers of a party – brie, kale, basil, and avocado, and some chickpeas. Luckily I had ground meat in the freezer and my friends across the street, StreetBurgers, supply me with bread. Nothing else needs to be said, because it’s time to eat.

Ingredients

large handful of lettuce
1 fennel, thinly sliced
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil or avocado oil
4 burger buns
3 tbsp mild olive oil for cooking
4 prepared burger patties*
100 g chick peas, drained
canned jalapenos, sliced, to taste
4 large or 8 small slices of brie
1 large avocado, peeled, sliced
freshly-ground black pepper to taste

pesto:
large bunch basil, leaves only
60 g kale, stalks removed
3 cloves garlic, peeled, crushed
1 orange zest, finely grated
50 g walnuts
50‒60 ml mild extra virgin olive oil
sea salt to taste
freshly-ground black pepper to taste

Prepare

Preheat the oven grill setting to 200°. Prepare the filling. In a bowl, mix the lettuce and fennel with oil and pepper.

Place all the pesto ingredients in a blender and process into a creamy dressing. Spread the dressing on the top and bottom half of the bun. Place some salad with fennel on the bottom half.

In an ovenproof pan, heat oil and cook the burgers on high heat. Cook on one side, flip and continue cooking. Put the chickpeas, jalapeno, and cheese on top. Place in the oven under the grill and bake until the cheese has melted. Remove and place a patty on each bottom half, arrange avocado on the burger, and top with the other half. Serve immediately.

* I use locally sourced ground venison. If you can’t get that, use 80% ground venison and 20% fatty pork. If you don’t want to add pork, add butter. That’s good. Add a pinch of fresh thyme leaves, salt, and pepper. You can add other spices, if desired.

Recipe and pictures: Signe Meirane
Camera: Sony Alpha 7s
From my book CRAZY ABOUT