Saucy Italian Burgers

I saw this recipe on the Rachel Ray show the other day. I literally said "YUM!" while she was making it!

I printed hers out, made some adjustments for me, and served my family that night with my fingers crossed...

... They literally groaned with yummmm's!

This recipe was super-duper easy, took less than 20 minutes, and thoroughly yummified my whole family. It will be a regular on our meal plan from now on.

I used my favorite recipe for meatballs for the burger portion of this dish. If you have a favorite meatballs recipe, by all means use it.

Italian Burgers

1 pound ground meat - I use ground turkey but you can use ground beef, if you prefer
1/3 cup Italian spiced bread crumbs
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup milk
1 egg
1 garlic clove minced OR 1 tsp prepared minced garlic
1/8-1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley (or 1 tsp dried parsley)
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
3 cups spaghetti sauce
1 16oz ball of fresh mozzarella
6 ciabatta rolls, halved
Fresh arugula, if desired

Preheat your broiler to LOW or preheat your oven to 450*F. Also preheat a pan to cook your burgers - I used my stove-top grill.

Mix by hand ground meat, bread crumbs, Parmesan, milk, egg, garlic, parsley, salt & pepper in a large bowl.

Use your hand to separate the mixture into 2 equal-ish halves. Then use your hand again to separate each half into 3 piece-of-pie-shaped wedges. You should end up with 6 fairly equal portions.

Shape each portion into a burger patty, slightly indenting the very center. Place on a preheated grill (or in a skillet) and cook. Mine took about 7 minutes on each side.

While the burgers are cooking, heat your favorite spaghetti sauce in a large skillet (not a saucepan!).

On a baking sheet, lay out your ciabatta rolls, halved. Drizzle lightly with olive oil. You can sprinkle them with garlic salt & Parmesan cheese, if desired. Place in the oven & bake until lightly toasted along the edges. Don't overcook!!

Remove ciabatta rolls from oven. Set the tops aside. Leave the bottoms on the baking pan, next to the skillet with the spaghetti sauce in it.

When the burgers are done, move them directly from the grill/pan to the spaghetti sauce in the skillet. Turn them over & over a few times in the spaghetti sauce, until well-coated. Place one sauced burger patty on each ciabatta roll bottom.

Slice the mozzarella ball & place slices on top of the sauced burger patties.

Return them to the oven until the cheese has melted.

Top with arugula, if desired.

Top with the ciabatta roll tops and serve!

These were perfect with a salad. Enjoy!!