Easy Cheesy Stuffed Turkey Burgers

Turkey Burgers stuffed with cheese? What?!

Oh, yeah!

My hubby went to the Fresh Market yesterday and bought 4 giant cheddar and bacon stuffed burger patties. Although that sounded ABSOLUTELY divine, I had my upcoming beach trip on my mind. 

But I REALLY wanted a burger. Especially when everyone else was eating one.

So I had to think...and I decided that I would make turkey burgers stuffed with pesto, sharp white cheddar, and Laughing Cow Swiss Cheese. 

Although it's not the healthiest thing I could be eating right now, it sure beats those bacon cheddar burgers. 

My bathing suit will thank me on Saturday.

Ingredients:

ground turkey meat (1 lb. makes 3-4 burgers)

Basil pesto (home made or from a jar)

Laughing Cow Swiss Cheese Triangles (at least 2)

Block of Vermont Sharp White Cheddar Cheese

garlic salt, salt, pepper (to season the burger patties)

EVOO (for frying)

Panko Bread Crumbs (optional)

toppings: onion, lettuce, condiments, pickles...the possibilities are endless and are up to you!

How To:

Start by mixing all of your "filling" ingredients together: pesto, Swiss cheese, shredded cheddar. Put them to the side.

Next, make your burger patties. If the meat is crumbling, add some bread crumbs or an egg to make them stick together. 

To make one burger, you should patty two small, thin burger patties-one for the top, one for the bottom. 

I would patty all of these before stuffing them. Makes it easier when you don't have to keep washing your hands.

Take one small patty, slather it with the filling, and top it with another patty. This might seem like a lot of burger meat, but it should still be about the same size as a regular (boring) burger. 

Squeeze the sides down around both patties so that they stick together and nothing comes out. These will be messy, and it all tastes the same anyway, so don't fret if they're not perfect! Season with garlic salt, salt, and pepper.

Pour some EVOO into a saute pan and let it get hot. Place your completed patties into the pan and allow them to cook evenly on both sides. 

For this burger I let both sides get a little burned (crispy), then turned the heat lower to let them cook all the way through. This ensures a nice, juicy burger. 

Once your patties are completely cooked through, pull them off the pan and place them on a paper towel (this gets rid of extra oil/grease that your bathing suit will not thank you for later)

Top them with anything you think would be tasty. Mine had lettuce and ketchup because that's what I was in the mood for. I ate it with a whole wheat sandwich thin to save on carbs and calories. 

If you don't care about those things, then the bakery usually has some fantastic deluxe buns that would rock this burger. 

The Results:

Well, let's see...I had one last night and another one today. Both times it was a delight. 

My friend who was visiting last night also ate half of one of my burgers, and she thought it was delectable! 

You'll have to try them and see how you feel about them. Don't knock it 'til you try it. 

And turkey meat is SO much better for you than red meat anyway!! GO TURKEY! YAY!