Burgers with pan-roasted onion and pepper relish

A burger doesn’t have to rest on a bed of shredded lettuce and topped with tomato and onion to be good. In fact, that combination, served in almost every fast food joint, is already tired and boring. Just like a good, juicy steak, burgers benefit a lot with different partners. Why not serve the patty between split man tao, for instance? Or with guacamole? Or topped with mashed potatoes and smothered with cheese sauce? There are so many delicious ways to serve burgers and, right now, I will add one more — with pan-roasted onion and pepper relish.

Of course, everything starts with a good burger. I like ground beef with at least 20% fat to make the burgers moist and juicy. I also like adding some finely chopped onion and panko to the meat that’s been seasoned with salt and pepper. Adding a beaten egg is optional — if your ground meat has enough fat, the fat should meld with the breadcrumbs and bind everything together. For this recipe, however, I added a few other things to my burger mix. As it turned out, the additions made the burgers even tastier and ultra moist.

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Burgers with pan-roasted onion and pepper relish

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes

Total Time 40 minutes

Servings 4

Author Connie Veneracion

Ingredients

• 400 to 500 grams ground beef (preferably with at least 20% fat)
• 2 to 3 tablespoons finely chopped onion
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1/2 tablespoon pepper
• 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
• 2 tablespoons mustard
• 1/2 cup panko

For the onion and pepper relish

• 2 large white onions
• 4 bell peppers (red or green, or a combination of red and green)
• 2 cloves garlic
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 tsp dried basil
• 4 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
• 4 tablespoons sugar
• salt to taste
• pepper to taste

To serve

• 4 burger buns
• 4 teaspoons mayonnaise

Instructions

1. Mix together all the ingredients for the burgers. Divide the mixture into four portions. Form each portion into a patty about half an inch thick. Lay the patties on a plate, cover the plate with cling wrap and chill the burgers while you prepare the relish.
2. Thinly slice the onions and bell peppers.
3. Grate the garlic.
4. 
5. Heat the olive oil in a pan. Add the sliced onions and bell peppers, and basil. Cook, stirring oven, just until the onions and peppers start to turn soft.
6. Pour in the vinegar. Add the sugar, salt, pepper and garlic. Stir. Cover, turn down the heat to lowest setting and slow cook until the vegetables are very soft and the mixture is almost dry. The vegetables will expel water and that, in addition to the rice wine vinegar, should be just enough liquid.
7. 
8. Cover, turn down the heat to the lowest setting and slow cook until the vegetables are very soft and the mixture is almost dry, about 15 to 20 minutes.
9. If there’s still too much liquid by the time the vegetables are soft, turn up the heat to medium and cook, uncovered, for a few minutes, stirring often.
10. Cool the relish. And while it cools, grill the burgers then split and toast the buns.
11. 
12. To serve: Spread the bottom halves of the buns with mayonnaise. Drop in the burgers. Top with about two tablespoons of the onion and pepper relish and serve.