America has a love affair with burgers and cheese in any way, shape and form. For this particular version we want to take you on a culinary adventure highlighting Greek style ingredients; ground lamb, kessari Greek grilling cheese and a Middle Eastern Zatar Seasoning Blend. The combination is oozing with goodness and may remind you of a gyro. If you have extra sauce, use it as a dip for pita chips, cucumbers, tomatoes and other various vegetables.
There are various Greek grilling cheeses and our favorites are kessari and Halloumi® and you will see many dishes throughout our site featuring these types of Greek grilling cheeses. Greek grilling cheese is unique in that it maintains its shape during the grilling process. Yes, we are saying slice it and place it directly on the grill! You will be amazed at the flavor after grilling the cheese!
Ingredient amounts will serve 4.
Ingredients
Burger and Accompaniments
1 lb. of ground lamb
4 slices of kessari cheese about ¼ inch thick or grilling cheese of your choice
1/2 of a red onion thinly sliced (optional)
1/2 of a cucumbers peeled and thinly sliced (optional)
4 buns of your choice
Non-stick cooking spray
Zatar Sauce
3/4 cup of Greek yogurt
1 teaspoon of Zatar Seasoning Blend
Dash of kosher salt and fresh ground pepper
1/4 teaspoon of lemon juice
Technique
Make sauce by mixing all ingredients in a small bowl and refrigerate until ready to use.
Slice red onions, cucumbers and cheese and refrigerate in separate containers. Cut buns in half. Make burgers by dividing the meat into 4 equal parts, roll into a ball and press down to about a half inch thick. Place burgers on a preheated grill over medium heat. Grill for about 5 minutes on each side. Grilling times will vary depending on the type of grill you are using and how thick your burgers are. Spray inside of the buns and grill to warm, about 1 minute. Check often, so they don’t burn. Remove burgers and buns. Use a grill bush to clean any parts of grill from leftover burger meat. Reduce heat to low and place cheese on grill and grill for about a minute, 30 seconds on each side. Watch carefully, so it won’t melt too much and fall into grill. If you are using a different type of grilling cheese it may take longer, such as, Halloumi®. Place cheese on each burger. Serve by smearing the amount of Zatar sauce to your liking on the bottom of the bun. Add cucumber slices and red onion slices to your liking on top of the sauce and place burger along with the top of the bun over the bottom bun that has been garnished. Serve with extra sauce if desired and enjoy!
Suggested Beverage
Try Shiner Bock, Shiner, TX (as shown), Saint Arnold Summer Pils (Houston, TX), Samuel Adams® Boston Lager® (Boston, MA),  Beringer Third Century Central Coast Pinot Noir (California) or Rodney Strong Pinot Noir (California).
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