Oven Baked Lamb Burgers in Mediterranean Sauce

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Maybe more of stew than a sauce

This recipe was started off by catching a wiff of barbecued burgers in town whilst having a drink. So it was decided - some juicy tasty burgers for dinner - oh yes! We picked up all we needed on Mary Street, from the Asian food company - one of my favourite shops in town.

IngredientsFor the burgers
3/4 pound of minced lamb
1 white onion - finely diced
1 tablespoon ground cumin
 a good grate of fresh nutmeg
2 tablespoons of ketchup
1 slice of bread - crumbed

For the sauce
3 mini aubergines (cause they're cute) finely sliced
1 white onion diced
3 cloves of garlic sliced finely
1 large green chili - seeds removed
1/2 red pepper - diced
1/2 yellow pepper - diced
1/2 courgette - diced
8 large tomatoes roughly chopped
1/2 litre vegetable stock
2 tablespoons fresh parsley

Start by making the burgers. Basically mix all the ingredients together in a big bowl - you’ll have to use your hands for sure. Then form into 6 burger shapes, and place in an oven proof dish and refrigerate while you make the sauce.

For the sauce fry the aubergine in a  little olive oil until it starts to colour a little - add in the onion and some more oil if needed and cook for another few minutes before adding the garlic and chilli. After another few minutes add in the peppers and courgette. Cook these until the soften ever so slightly - then add in all your chopped tomatoes. Bring to a gentle simmer and cover until the tomatoes begin to beak apart. Then add in about 1/2 little of vegetable stock. Allow to simmer for a few minutes, then remove from the heat and pour over your burgers in an oven proof dish - the sauce should cover the burgers - remember it will cook down in the oven.

Bake at gas mark 6 for about an hour. Serve with a sprinkle of parsley and some oven baked chips (ours turned out tasting of lemons, so Delo ran to the chipper - weekend boldness!) 

The burgers came out wonderfully moist and the vegetable mixture cooked down to produce a rich, sweet and dense sauce. I don’t want my burgers any other way! They would be equally as tasty with beef mince, I’d have added some harissa to the mixture if I’d had some to hand for sure. Endless variations possible here - with different vegetables and meats.  Tonight I’ll eat the leftovers in a fresh floury bap - looking forward to it already.