I’ve been making a handful of composite burgers as of late. I’ve had many different burgers with all the exotic toppings you can imagine, so it’s natural to begin to adapt the patty into something more significant than the sum of its parts. My mom made these chorizo-spiked turkey burgers with broiled pineapple and cilantro, and it was so, so good. I’ve been on a chorizo bender and figured mixing in some fresh (Mexican-style) chorizo couldn’t hurt. And so comes the start of a new burger.
Spicy from the chorizo, sweet from the caramelized pineapple, with some zing and freshness from the aioli. Some sliced onion for good measure and balance, and soft buns from the bakery (or you could make your own, but it was astronomically hot the day we had these, and even in my air-conditioned state, I couldn’t bear to stand in the kitchen with a 400 degree-Fahrenheit oven).
Get a nice soft bun, a kaiser roll or a good old-fashioned American burger bun (sesame seeds optional). I like a chewy bun now and again, but it’s just too much here and takes away from the beauty of these chorizo-spiked turkey burgers.
Keep your sides light, either some fruit salad or a nice green salad so that you can eat the whole chorizo-spiked turkey burgers burger without guilt. You’ll want to, I promise.
Smokey Chorizo-Spiked Turkey Burgers
Ingredients
Burger IngredientsUnit Conversion
- ¾ pound ground turkey not lean
- 8 ounces chorizo sausage
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 pinch black pepper
- 1 ounce Monterey Jack cheese to melt on top
Aioli Ingredients
- ¼ cup fresh cilantro roughly chopped
- 2 cloves garlic roughly chopped
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- ½ cup mayonnaise
Other Ingredients
- 6 slices pineapple
- 6 medium burger buns
- 1 small ed onion sliced
Instructions
- Remove casing from the chorizo. In a medium bowl and using your hands to mix, gently combine the turkey and chorizo, using a light touch. Overmixing makes for a tougher burger. There can be some pockets that are just turkey and some that are just chorizo. You’re going for sort of a marbled effect.
- Form into 6 equally sized patties, sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper and place in the refrigerator for at least half an hour.
- Meanwhile, combine cilantro, garlic and mayo in a blender or food processor. Blitz until uniformly pureed together. Scrape into a small bowl and cover, placing in the refrigerator until assembly time.
- Place pineapple on a foil-lined sheet pan and broil for 6 to 8 minutes per side until pineapple is caramelized and starting to brown. Set aside to cool.
- Grill burgers using your usual method of grilling. On the flip, top with Jack cheese.
- Lightly toast buns, slathering both top and bottom with a bit of the aioli. Gently lay patty on the bottom bun and top with a pineapple slice and some red onion slices.