Itty Bitty Burgers

Ingredients

2 tablespoons spicy mustard mustard+ extra to spread
2 slices pepper jack cheese, cut into 1 inch pieces
a handful of cherry or grape tomatoes, sliced thinly
1 a handful of fresh baby spinach (or lettuce) cut into inch pieces
16 toothpicks

Preparation

1
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2
In a medium bowl add 2 T of mustard and a generous pinch of salt to the ground beef. Using your hands, mix gently until everything is thoroughly combined.
3
Roll meat into very small balls, roughly 1 1/2 inches across and set on a rimmed cookie sheet. (I got 16 out of my batch.) Press each ball down gently to slightly flatten .
4
Bake for 10 minutes, remove and lay a small piece of cheese over each burger. Return to oven for 1-2 more minutes until cheese is melted and burgers are cooked through.
5
While the burgers are cooking, spread mustard on buns (if you like), and cut into 1-inch pieces. Prepare remaining ingredients and have everything ready when the burgers come out of the oven.
6
Assemble burgers on toothpicks by stabbing some bread (mustard side down), then lettuce, then tomato, then a burger, then the other piece of bread (mustard side up). When you put them on a serving dish, press everything down a bit -- that will help them stand up.
.

About

They look really fussy, but they're actually quite easy. Start to finish, they only took about 30 minutes to prepare. Make sure you make the patties really small, about 1.5 inches across. After a little shrinkage from being cooked, they should be about the perfect size. They're a delicious little appetizer!

Yield:

16 appetizers (serving about 8), or dinner for 4 people.

Added:

Thursday, November 4, 2010 - 4:32pm

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