As we’ve previously discussed, since it’s summer, we need things to grill outside, which means burgers. I made this burger because buying Italian sausage can be a tricky thing now. Sometimes I can get some that’s allergy free and sometimes I can’t. Also, I developed this recipe before the positive result on the allergy scratch test for onions, but since I’m still hoping the challenge will show I’m not really allergic to onions, and since many of you will still be able to enjoy it, here you go.
Hot Italian Sausage Burgers with Peppers and Onions
- 1 pound of ground pork (make sure your pork is not too lean or your burgers may be dry, if it is too lean, see the optional step below)
- 1/4 teaspoon of salt
- 1/2 teaspoon of garlic salt
- 1/8 teaspoon of ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon of paprika
- 1/4 teaspoon of cayenne
- 1 Tablespoon of red wine vinegar
- 1/4 teaspoon of anise seed
- 1/4 teaspoon of fennel seed
- 1 teaspoon of red pepper flakes
- 2 Tablespoons of canola oil (you will use an additional teaspoon if you choose the optional step below)
- 1 red bell pepper
- 1 green bell pepper
- 1 vidalia onion (or regular yellow onion is fine too)
Place the ground pork into a large bowl. Sprinkle salt, garlic salt, black pepper, paprika, cayenne over pork. Pour red wine vinegar over the pork.
Take anise seed, fennel, and red pepper flakes and grind in a spice grinder (or coffee grinder or mortar and pestle). Take ground spice mixture and mix with oil in a small container. Pour spice and oil mix over pork, scraping down container to make sure it ends up in pork.
[OPTIONAL: Take a quarter to a half of the red bell pepper, green bell pepper and the vidalia onion (depending on the size of the onions and peppers, you don’t want to use so much that the burgers won’t hold together) and clean and chop them finely. Saute them in teaspoon of canola oil until the peppers are softer and the onions are just barely translucent. Remove them from heat and let them cool. To hurry this process along, feel free to put them in the freezer for a few minutes until they are cool. When they are, add them to the pork.]
Mix everything into the ground pork until well blended. The only way to do this really is with your hands. Think meatloaf. Cover bowl and refrigerate for 24 hours so the flavors can blend.
On the day you intend to grill the burgers, clean and de-seed the bell peppers and cut them into slices. Peel the onion, and slice it into slices.
Wrap them up into a sealed foil packet. Cook them on the grill in the foil packet over indirect heat. (If you want to make this and you don’t have access to a grill, you could also do them in your oven. Preheat the oven to 4ooºF and place the packet on a cookie sheet. Check them after twenty minutes to see if they’re sufficiently cooked. You may need to let them go a little longer, so craft your foil packet so it’s easy to get open and seal back up. And be careful not to burn yourself with escaping steam.)
Grill the burgers, making sure the pork is sufficiently cooked. (Or fry them in a pan if your’re cooking inside.)
Serve with buns that are safe for your food restrictions, and the cooked onions and peppers on top. Enjoy!
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