Italian Caprese Sliders
By: Sue Salerno
Published: Thursday, October 6, 2011 - 7:31pm

Ingredients




1 1/2      lb            ground beef
1             lb            hot Italian sausage
1             tsp          dried Italian seasoning
1             med       onion finely chopped
1                            bell pepper finely chopped
3                            cloves minced garlic
18                          (White Dinner Rolls freshly baked – your recipe or frozen dough best)
8             oz           fresh Mozzarella cheese sliced 1/4 inch thick
4             large      Roma tomatoes sliced in 1/4 in thick slices
36          large         fresh basil leaves stems removed
freshly ground black pepper
3             Tbs         extra virgin olive oil
3             Tbs         balsamic vinegar

Preparation

1 Gently but thoroughly mix together the ground beef and ground Italian sausage (removing from the casings if any), along with the Italian spices, chopped onion, chopped Bell pepper and 2 cloves of minced garlic. 2 Press the mixture into a jelly roll pan using a rolling pin to make a flat even layer.  Cut the meat into 2″ squares. 3 Grill 2-3 minutes on each side or until cooked through to a temperature of at least 160. 4 If not fresh from the oven, wrap the rolls in foil and warm on the top rack of the grill while the burgers are cooking on their second side. 5 When the burgers are done, place a slice of mozzarella on each burger and tent with foil while preparing the buns. 6 Whisk together olive oil, balsamic and remaining 1 clove minced garlic 7 Place the burger with cheese on the bottom of the bun, add a slice of tomato and two good-sized basil leaves and drizzle each burger with 1/2 teaspoon of the balsamic/olive oil dressing.

About

These sliders were chosen to be featured in the First Annual LA Times Battle of the Burgers Top Five.