Recipes

[simplycooking101]

Italian Caprese Sliders

I’ve entered my favorite Italian Caprese Sliders in the LA Times Battle of the Burgers contest and I need help! Please go vote – (you can vote once a day until the 13th ) on page 2 at https://www.facebook.com/latimesfood?sk=app_205749792795139. I would really appreciate it - right now I'm just barely in the top 20 and I need to stay there to get to the next level. Hopefully I'm not breaking any rules here, you don’t win any money or anything but could have an opportunity to go to the Times Test Kitchen – how cool would that be?

These are always great, adding the sausage to the beef makes them very juicy with some spice.

1 1/2 lb ground beef

1 lb hot Italian sausage

1 tsp dried Italian seasoning

1 med onion finely chopped

1 bell pepper finely chopped

3 cloves minced garlic

18 White Dinner Rolls

8 oz fresh Mozzarella cheese sliced 1/4 inch thick

4 large Roma tomatoes sliced in 1/4 in thick slices

1/4 cup fresh basil leaves stems removed

freshly ground black pepper

3 Tbs extra virgin olive oil

3 Tbs balsamic vinegar

1 Gently but thoroughly mix together the ground beef and ground Italian sausage (removing from the casings if any), along with the Italian spices, chopped onion, chopped Bell pepper and 2 cloves of minced garlic.

2 Press the mixture into a jelly roll pan using a rolling pin to make a flat even layer. Cut the meat into 2? squares.

3 Grill 2-3 minutes on each side or until cooked through to a temperature of at least 160.

4 Wrap the rolls in foil and warm on the top rack of the grill while the burgers are cooking on their second side.

5 When the burgers are done, place a slice of Mozzerella on each burger and tent with foil while preparing the buns.

6 Whisk together olive oil, balsamic and remaining 1 clove minced garlic

7 Place the burger with cheese on the bottom of the bun, add a slice of tomato and two good sized basil leaves and drizzle each burger with 1 teaspoon of the balsamic/olive oil dressing.