Guest Post by local award-winning food blogger Jane Cessford.

The other night I was debating over what to cook for dinner and I realised that I was really in the mood for a good quality beefburger. When I inspected the contents of the fridge I was pleased to find that I had some grated parmesan left over from a pasta dish I’d made a couple of nights before, so I decided to make Italian beefburgers with rosemary fries on the side.

Over the past year or so I’ve been steadily collecting more equipment for my kitchen and one gem which has been worth its weight in gold is my food processor. It didn’t cost much to buy, I think around £30, but I use it all the time for a variety of functions. It’s massively helpful when making meals such as these Italian beefburgers because not only can I use it to make gluten-free breadcrumbs (which are extortionate to buy ready-made), but I can also use the food processor to blend the ingredients to make my beef patties.

I always think you can’t beat a good burger and this Italian beefburger is definitely one of my favourite flavour combinations, combining grated parmesan cheese with oregano, sweet balsamic vinegar and fresh green spring onion tips. It produces a juicy beefburger that’s meaty and satisfying while remaining fresh-tasting and light and is complemented by a side serving of crisp potato wedges which have been encrusted with melted parmesan and chopped fresh rosemary. Oh man, I could eat these Italian beefburgers with rosemary fries any day of the week.

Ingredients for the Italian beefburgers:

350g beef mince

80g gluten-free breadcrumbs (I just whizzed up a couple of slices of G/F bread in my food processor)

2 tsps dried oregano

30g (2 tbsps) of chopped green spring onion tips

2 tsps balsamic vinegar

4 tbsps grated parmesan (or non-dairy version)

1/2 tsp ground black pepper

1/2 tsp salt

Ingredients for the rosemary fries:

Enough potatoes to serve 4 people

2 tbsps vegetable oil

1 tbsp of chopped fresh rosemary

50g grated parmesan (or non-dairy version)

Salt, to taste

(Serves 4)

Method:

Preheat your oven to 200C/180C Fan/400F/Gas Mark 6.

If you’re using a food processor just put all of your beefburger ingredients into the bowl and blend until mixed. If you’re doing it by hand, put all of your ingredients into a large mixing bowl and mix together until combined.

Form the meat into 4 beef patties either by hand or by using a burger press and put them in the fridge while you prepare and begin to cook your rosemary fries.

Peel the potatoes and cut them into wedges before placing them on a baking tray and coating them in oil and a little salt. Bake them in the oven for 25-30 mins.

Once the potato wedges are soft in the middle, place your beefburgers in a frying pan or on a baking tray and cook them until they are no longer pink in the middle.

When the beefburgers are almost done, scatter the rosemary fries with the grated parmesan and fresh rosemary and put the fries back in the oven for 3-5 mins to let the parmesan melt.

When the parmesan has melted, serve the Italian beefburgers in buns with salad and the rosemary fries on the side.