Boxing Day Burgers

Makes 6.

Now come on - it wouldn’t be Christmas without ‘leftovers’ ideas. Though if my husband has anything to do with it, leftovers really aren’t an option…

Here I wanted to do something a bit different to the usual pies and curries etc. Plus, in keeping with my child-friendly ethos, these are soooo easy to do (an important Boxing Day rule) and should appeal to all ages. They’d also be great w/ leftover roasties and a bit of re-heated gravy.

Re the leftover cheese and admittedly mozzarella isn’t exactly known for taking centre stage of the Christmas cheeseboard – but I just feel it works here (it’s my go-to ‘burger’ cheese). Feel free to replace with something else – inc Cheddar or one of the more traditional Christmas cheeses, crumbled.* The brie in the pic by the way is there simply because it looked the part – and in theory could form a melted posh topping in a ciabatta roll (???)

Note the second guest star appearance of polenta this month. Quite deliberate – (a) because it gives the perfect bit of ‘bite’ set against the slightly softer burger – so please don’t ditch that part of the recipe (b) because these fry off a heck of a lot easier with a bit of coating (though feel free to replace the polenta w/ breadcrumbs / panko if you want) and (c) because if you bought some polenta for last week’s recipe, you may just have some of that leftover (see – always thinking ahead?!) – oh and (d) this shows another of polenta’s versatile uses.

They should pay me for this….

INGREDIENTS

1 tbsp butter
1 red onion, chopped
160g cooked (skinless) turkey – cut into pieces
80g grated Mozzarella cheese
100g cooked (leftover?) sage and onion stuffing – cut into pieces
A bit of leftover carrot / parsnip / sprouts – optional but feel free to bung in

PLUS:

A small plate of seasoned plain flour
A small bowl of whisked egg
A small plate with a bit of polenta (grains)

Oil – to fry

METHOD

1. Melt the butter in a pan and sauté the onions for a few minutes.
2. Place contents of the pan in a food processor – along with the turkey, cheese and stuffing.
3. Whizz up on fast for a few moments until it binds together. It will look sticky. It will be a bit sticky in fact. Don’t panic.
4. Shape into burger shapes and leave to firm up on a tray in the fridge for 30 mins (or covered, overnight).
5. Heat up a bit of oil in a non-stick pan. Coat each burger in first in a bit of flour, then egg, then polenta.
6. Fry off each burger on both sides until golden.

TIP: Throw in a handful of cranberries too (at stage 2). What the hell….

* (In my opinion though a good Stilton etc should stay on the cheeseboard; it’s not like all cheese suddenly and immediately go off come Boxing Day…)