No Smoke Without Fire Pork & Nduja Burger
This summertime spin on the old staple ‘burger in a bun’ uses Nduja (a spicy, soft and deeply savoury sausage from southern Italy) to add a delicious kick to classic Greendale pork mince. Makes 4 burgers.
Method
First, make your pickled onions. Cut the trimmed and peeled onions in half, then slice as thinly as you can. Transfer the slices to a mixing bowl and add the vinegar, honey and salt, then use your hands to ‘scrunch’ everything together until well combined. Cover the bowl and leave to pickle for at least half an hour.
Next, light the BBQ and leave it until the charcoal is ready to cook over – you can get on with the burgers while you wait. To make the burgers, line a tray or plate with greaseproof paper, then put the pork mince and the Nduja into a large mixing bowl and stir together until really well combined. With clean hands, shape the mixture into 4 burgers, then lie them on the paper-lined tray, cover and refrigerate until the BBQ is ready. When you’re ready to cook, take the burgers out of the fridge, place them directly on the clean grill and cook for 6-8 minutes per side, turning when grill marks appear, until they are nicely browned and any juices run clear.
When you have turned the burgers, top them with the sliced cheese so that it melts while they finish cooking. You can also toast the brioche halves at this point if you like (they won’t need long), transferring them to serving plates as soon as they’re ready.
To serve, spread the insides of each bun with garlic mayo, then put a cooked burger on to the bottom half of each bun. Drain any liquid from the pickled onions, then pile them over the top of the cheesy burgers, before topping off the lot with the other half of the brioche bun.