Turkey Burgers with Gruyere & Spiced Sweet Potato Fries {Naptime Everyday}
Two weeks ago I had lunch at Island with my friend Barbara and we both ordered the lunch special: turkey burgers with gruyere and arugula. I make turkey burgers now and then, and they are pretty good, but these burgers were exceptional. The meat was juicy and moist and they were spiced up with black pepper and something hot, we think it might have been chili powder. Each burger was topped with a generous slice of melted gruyere, a handful of arugula, and some yummy tomato and shallots. Then, as if that wasn’t awesome enough, the towering burger was served on a warm brioche bun with french fries on the side. In short, it was heaven on a plate.
In keeping with the pregnancy stereotype, once I had that meal in my head I couldn’t get it out. I had to make turkey burgers at home immediately. Just a few days later I picked up some ground turkey meat, ricotta, and gruyere and set to work making our own delicious patties while my daughter was at school. Since my husband wasn’t home early enough to grill at dinner time I simply cooked them up on the stovetop in a pan.
I paired our burgers with some baked sweet potato “fries”, one of our favorite fall side dishes. They were easy to prepare ahead since all they required was some easy slicing. Before dinner I tossed them with olive oil and a pinch of cayenne before sliding them into the oven to bake up until nice and crispy. While perfect easy, hearty weeknight fall dinner for all of us.
Recipe
Turkey Burgers with Gruyere & Spiced Sweet Potato Fries
Ingredients
Burgers:
| 2 | cups ground turkey meat |
| ½ | cup low-fat ricotta cheese |
| 1 | teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper |
| 1 | teaspoon chili powder (omit if you won’t want spicy heat) |
| 2 | generous slices gruyere cheese |
Fries:
| 4 | sweet potatoes, scrubbed and patted dry, cut into 8 to 10 even-sized wedges |
| ¼ | cup olive oil |
| 1 | pinch kosher salt |
| 1 | pinch cayenne pepper |
Instructions
1. Burgers: Add the turkey meat to a large bowl and form a well in the middle. In a smaller bowl stir the ricotta, pepper, chili powder, and salt until smooth and blended. Add this to the turkey meat and mix well. Then form two burger patties with your hands. Lightly oil a grill pan or the grate of a grill and bring to medium heat. Cook the burgers until the meat is completely cooked through, about 7 minutes per side. Then, add the gruyere to the top of each burger and allow to cook until just melted. Remove the burger from the heat to the bun.
2. Fries: Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F and line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Brush the foil with half of the olive oil and arrange the potato slices on top of it so that none are overlapping. Then sprinkle the tops with the salt and cayenne pepper and the remaining olive oil. Bake the fries for about 20 minutes, then open the oven door and quickly remove the baking sheet. Use a spatula to carefully flip the fries to the other side and return to the oven for another 20 minutes. Once they are crispy and lightly browned all around place the fries on a plate lined with a paper towel. Sprinkle with additional salt if desired and serve!
Naptime Notes
Naptime Recipe Serving ideas
To prepare this in advance I make the burger patties while my daughter is napping or at school. Then, I store them on a plate covered iwth plastic wrap until dinner. I also slice the sweet potatoes and keep them on a plate covered with plastic until dinner.
Naptime Stopwatch
10 minutes prep time, 40 minutes bake time for fries. Start cooking the fries first.
20 minutes prep time, 20 minutes cook time for the burgers.
Naptime Reviews
This simple dinner was perfect for our weeknight appetites. It is still not exactly like the burgers from Island, but I’ll keep practicing!
mmmm glad we are both eating our fries this week! looks delish xoxoxo