Chicken Parmesan Burgers

Chicken Parmesan Burgers from Cooking Light
10 1/2 inch sliced  French bread
1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
4T minced fresh basil, plus 12 large basil leaves
3/4 cup marinar sauce
12 oz ground chicken
2T extra virgin olive oil
1 T grated onion
1/4 t salt
4 slices mozzarella cheese

Directions:  Blend diced bread and parmesan cheese in food processor to fine crumbs. Place in pie plate and add 2 T basil.

Mix marinara and 2 T basil in small saucepan. Transfer 1 1/2 T sauce in a large bowl. Add chicken, 1/2 T oil, onion, and 1/4 t salt. Sprinkle with pepper; blend. Shape into 4 patties; coat with crumbs. Heat sauce over low heat.

Heat 1 1/2 T oil in large skillet over medium heat. Cook patties till bottoms are crusty, about 4 minutes. Turn patties over; add slice of mozzarella to each. Cook 3 minutes. Cover and cook 1 more minute or until cheese melts and patties are done.

Serve with basil and marinara sauce on toasted French bread.

Modifications:
-I was a little confused with this recipe.  The ingredients didn't say anything about diced bread and I really didn't want to pull out a food processor so I just used Italian bread crumbs to use as a binding.


Here's what I started with:

Here's how I did it:

#1 I grated some onion into 1lb of ground chicken.

#2 I chopped up some fresh basil.   

#3 I poured some bread crumbs into the mixture as a binder.

#4 I poured some marinara sauce in a pan and let it heat up a bit.

#5 I added the Parmesan cheese and a little bit of the sauce to the chicken and then mixed it up.

#6 I scored the chicken into 4 parts and formed them into patties.

#7 I sliced up some French bread and threw it into a 375 degree oven to toast.

#8 I cooked the burgers in a wrought iron skillet with some olive oil.

#9 Once they were cooked, I put some mozzarella cheese on them to melt.

#10 Once the cheese melted, I put the burgers on the French bread with some of the marinara sauce and a couple of basil leaves.

The Finished Product:

Review:

These burgers were great.  I, personally, didn't really care for the basil leaves.  I'm not crazy about their flavor.  I also ended up taking the burger off of the bun (watching the carbs) and it was still good but not nearly as good as the one bite I took with the bread.

If you have ever worked with ground chicken in a burger you know that it is kind of difficult.  They are so soft and fall apart easily.  I think I should have added just a bit more Parmesan cheese or bread crumbs.

Scott loved these sandwiches and said that they reminded him of a meatball sandwich.

Hope you enjoy!
April