Burger of the Week: Smoked Meat Loaf Burgers with Grilled Onion

SERVES: 4

PREP time: 15 minutes

grilling time: 8-10 minutes

special equipment: 2 large handfuls mesquite wood chips

PATTIES:

8  ounces ground chuck (80% lean)

8  ounces ground veal

8  ounces lean ground pork

2  large eggs, beaten

¾  cup dried Italian-seasoned bread crumbs

¼  cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano® cheese

½  teaspoon kosher salt

¼  teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

½  cup ketchup

1  canned chipotle chile pepper in adobo sauce, minced

1  teaspoon adobo sauce (from the can)

1  red onion, cut crosswise into 4 slices, each about ½ inch thick

2  teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil

8  slices sourdough bread, each about ½ inch thick

DIRECTIONS:

1. Soak the wood chips in water for at least 30 minutes.

2. Mix the patty ingredients, and then gently form four patties of equal size, each about ¾ inch thick. With your thumb or the back of a spoon, make a shallow indentation about 1 inch wide in the center of the patties to prevent them from forming a dome as they cook. Refrigerate the patties until ready to grill.

3. Whisk the ketchup, chipotle chile pepper, and adobo sauce.

4. Prepare the grill for direct cooking over medium-high heat (400° to 500°F).

5. Brush the onion slices with the oil. Drain and add the wood chips to the charcoal or to the smoker box of a gas grill, following manufacturer’s instructions, and close the lid. When the wood begins to smoke, grill the patties and onion over direct medium-high heat, with the lid closed, until the patties are cooked to medium doneness (160°F), 8 to 10 minutes, and the onion is tender, 6 to 8 minutes, turning once. During the last minute of grilling time, toast the bread over direct heat, turning once.

6. Build each burger on a bread slice with a patty, chipotle ketchup, a grilled onion slice, and the remaining bread slice. Serve warm.

©2014 Weber-Stephen Products LLC. Recipe from Weber’s Big Book of Burgers™ by Jamie Purviance. Used with permission.