Blend & extend; it's a way to make your ground meat go a little further and taste way better too! Today I combined ground mushrooms with extra lean ground beef to make a juicy burger. I found it was more flavorful than a plain burger and the overall texture was lighter and fluffier. In fact, I don't think I can go back to making a burger without mushrooms in it.

Ingredients
1 tbsp olive oil
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 tin of diced or whole plum tomatoes
1 lb. extra lean ground beef
About 8 medium-sized button mushrooms
1 egg
1/3 cup panko bread crumbs
salt and pepper
10 slider buns (my bread recipe can be found here)

Method

If making homemade bread, prep it ahead of time as it takes about 2.5 hours from start to finish including the rising periods. 

For the sauce: heat up some olive oil and the garlic in a medium saucepan until it becomes fragrant. Add the tomato and bring to a boil, then turn down and let simmer on low for a half hour with the lid off. Blend it up til it's nice and smooth and then set aside until the sliders are ready to assemble. You can leave it on the stove on very low heat to keep warm. 

For the burger patties: blend the mushrooms pretty finely, but not til they're pasty. Add to a large mixing bowl with the ground beef, egg, panko, about 1 tsp of salt, and some freshly ground pepper. Mix well and then form into 10 evenly sized patties. Heat up some olive oil in a non-stick pan and when it's hot add the burgers. I did mine 5 at a time to avoid crowding the pan. Cover with a splatter guard and let them sizzle for about 5 minutes, then flip and cook for 5 minutes on the other side until cooked through. To test if they are cooked you can poke into the centre with a knife and check for pinkness. 

The assembly: Slice the buns open and line each one with some baby greens. Place a burger on each bun and then spoon sauce over top. Pop the top on the bun and they're ready to serve! These sliders taste even better when served nice and warm.

Makes 10 sliders