Pizza Stuffed Burgers $3.49

My niece, who is 14 now, and my nephew, who is 16 now, have been making these for themselves for several years now. They are really that simple! I remember having pizza burgers in school as a kid - I didn't like them back then - there was ALWAYs this orangish red grease that came darting out of the burgers whenever I bit into them. It was so gross. I don't think that will be a problem any longer as we're using WAY better ingredients than they did in the Loganville Elementary School 20 plus (and that's a BIG PLUS) years ago.

you'll want to be sure to have fresh ground beef (or turkey) for this masterpiece - previously frozen hamburger WILL NOT work as the tallows don't thaw right, and will not hold together right - a VITAL part of making such a thin burger patty. In this instance you can use the lean or even extra lean ground beef - sometimes it too doesn't stick together, but these super thin patties will require a lot of "working", so the meat will come together and hold it's shape, so feel free to treat yourself to 93% lean ground sirloin!

Pizza Stuffed Burgers:
1 lb to 1 1/2 lbs Extra Lean Fresh Ground Beef (or turkey - I used turkey)$2.29
3/4 cup pizza sauce .40
3/4 cup shredded mozzarella.50
4 -8 slices of pepperoni (optional!).30
buns if desired, I prefer mine open-faced

divide meat into four portions. Divide each portion into two equal portions. now you're dealing with 1/8th of a pound - 2 ounces - of meat. Not alot, so work it well - mash it, pat it, squish it, toss it, do what you need to get it to stay in a ball form - then on a piece of waxed paper, flatten (do NOT punch holes in it) into a patty that is about 1/4 to 3/8 inch thick. Repeat with other 2 ounce portion of meat - set it on the waxed paper next to it's partner. Now you have one burger prepped. Repeat three (or six depending on how you look at it) more times to make 8 super thin burger patties.

On one half of the perfectly matched pair put 1 tbsp pizza sauce and 1 tbsp mozzarella sauce (and if you want, one or two slices of pepperoni). Top with the "cover" and seal the edges by pinching them together and smoothing around the edges. Repeat to make four burger patties.

Place on hot grill, cook four minutes on each side (these are THIN, watch them close) - or pan fry in a hot frying pan sprayed with cookign spray for six minutes per side over medium heat UNTIL DONE. (don't use a George Foreman or Panini Press type grill - these burgers don't need that multi-directional pressure!)

Top each burger patty with another 1 to 2 tbsp sauce and 1 tbsp mozzarella. you can also add any other pizza toppings you want right here - like black olives, put them under the cheese, like pepperoni, throw more on, like peppers, onions, etc... you can see where this is going. Basically, I want you to make a small pizza on top of the pizza burgers - return to pan to melt the cheese, but not much more.

If desired, put on a bun, else Plate and Eat! with a side of steamed veggie of choice - vegetable normandy would be perfect with this!