Pizza Burgers with Homemade Pizza Sauce

We love pizza. We love burgers. We love pizza burgers! I saw the original recipe on www.thepioneerwomancooks.com and tweaked it a little bit. If you don't like this version you can try Ree's <3

1 lb ground beef

1/2 lb ground italian sausage

1 t italian seasoning 

one package of sliced pepperoni (you won't use it all.. or you shouldn't)

12 slices mozzarella cheese

6 ciabatta rolls

6 T butter, softened

garlic salt to taste

*sauteed onions, peppers, mushrooms (if you like these things) & sliced ripe olives

homemade pizza sauce (recipe below.. make your pizza sauce beforehand so it has time to sit and cool a bit.)

Homemade Pizza Sauce 

2 T olive oil

4-5 cloves of fresh garlic, minced (no jarred stuff)

28oz crushed tomatoes in puree

1 T freeze dried basil

1/2 t oregano

1/4 t salt

Heat oil over medium heat in a saucepan. Sauté garlic for about a minute then pour in tomatoes and seasonings. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer 15-20 minutes, stirring frequently. I like to let it sit so the flavors combine!

*Slice and sauté your veggies ahead of time too so they're ready for assembly.

Pizza Burgers

Combine ground beef, italian sausage and italian seasoning. Mash it all together and mix it up with your hands. Form into 6 patties. Heat large skillet or griddle to medium and cook patties until they are cooked through, probably 10-12 minutes (no pink allowed since there's sausage involved!). Flip them several times but don't smash them down too much while cooking. Once they're fully cooked, top each patty with 5-6 slices of pepperoni (or more) and two slices of cheese and let it melt a little on the griddle.

Turn oven to broil. Split each ciabatta roll and smear with butter (you can use more or less butter) and sprinkle with season salt. Toast it under the broiler until golden brown.

Assemble burgers like this: bottom bun, a spoonful of sauce, a burger patty, any toppings you like, another spoonful of sauce, top bun. Devour.

Makes 6 burgers. Enjoy! 

Monte Cristo Sandwiches

I met my friend Brooke at Cheddar's today for lunch and seriously eyed the Monte Cristo Sandwich. I decided on something else.. but I thought about that sandwich the rest of the day! If you've never had one, you really should give it a try. The combination of sweet and salty seems odd but it just all melts together so well. They're very rich but VERY tasty. Tonight, I was trying to decide what to cook for dinner and I realized that I had the ingredients to make Monte Cristo Sandwiches at home.. Come to Mama!

There are a ton of Monte Cristo recipes and techniques online but I chose to make them with a "french toast" method to avoid two things: #1 dragging out the deep fryer and #2 uncooked egg in the middle layer of bread. They went together easily and were cooked perfectly.

6 slices bread

6 thin slices of ham

6 thin slices of turkey

2 slices American cheese (I use the kind from the deli instead of Kraft singles)

2 slices Swiss cheese

2 T butter

2 eggs

1/4 c milk (eyeball it like you would for french toast)

powdered sugar (for dusting)

warm raspberry jam (for dipping)

Whisk the eggs with the milk in a shallow dish and set aside. Lay out your meats and cheeses on a cutting board to bring them up to room temp (that way they'll heat up well on the sandwich). I made 4 piles (3 slices ham topped with American cheese ((twice)) and 3 slices turkey topped with Swiss cheese ((twice)) does that make sense?) Heat a large skillet or griddle to medium and butter well. Dip the 6 slices of bread in the egg mixture on both sides and let the excess drip off. (If your griddle isn't large enough you'll have to make one sandwich at a time so don't dip until you're ready to cook). Cook the bread slices a couple of minutes on one side and flip. Once you flip all six slices, place the piles of meat and cheese on four of the slices. Cook a minute or two to make sure the egg is cooked through. Then assemble the sandwich with one layer ham and American, one layer turkey and Swiss and a final piece of french toast on the top! Press down slightly, cut into fourths, sprinkle with powdered sugar and DEVOUR. I like to warm up the raspberry jam a little to make it dippable. Makes two sandwiches. Enjoy!

Brett enjoyed his Monte Cristo too!