Turkey Cacciatore Burgers on Portobello "Buns"

Last night Jay O. and I had date night at the house.  It felt weird actually being able to stay home on a weekend night, and not be on the go!  But, it was nice =)  I cooked dinner and we watched the movie "Unforgiven."  Westerns definitely aren't my first choice for movies, but this one was made in 1992 (more recent) and we both enjoyed it.  So, ladies, if your significant other is dying to watch a Western recommend this one =)  Not too shabby.  

Now, for the recipe...I'm sure you are wondering (just as I was) what in the world cacciatore means.  Well, it means it's prepared with tomato, onion, mushrooms, and herbs giving it Italian spice & flavor.  I HIGHLY recommend this recipe!  It looks like there are a lot of ingredients you would have to purchase, but most things you probably have in your pantry or are very inexpensive.  We served ours with baked fries.  Here goes:  

The recipe says 4 servings, but I made 5 patties because they would have been toooooo big with just 4.

Ingredients

·         1 1/3 pounds ground turkey breast, the average weight of 1 package

·         Salt and pepper

·         6 crimini mushrooms (baby portobellos) stems removed and finely chopped

·         1/2 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped

·         1/2 yellow onion, finely chopped

·         2 cloves garlic, smashed away from skin and finely chopped

·         3 tablespoons tomato paste

·         1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

·         1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

·         1/2 cup grated Parmesan, a couple of handfuls

·         Handful flat-leaf parsley, chopped

·         Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling

·         4 large portobello mushroom caps, stems removed

·         Coarse salt and black pepper

·         2 cups arugula leaves, coarsely chopped

·         1/2 pound fresh mozzarella or fresh smoked mozzarella, thinly sliced  (I RECOMMEND SMOKED)

·         Sliced red onion and sliced plum tomatoes (only if you would like these to top it off)

Directions

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.

Combine meat with salt and pepper, chopped crimini mushrooms, chopped bell pepper, chopped onion, garlic, tomato paste, Worcestershire, crushed red pepper flakes, cheese and parsley. Score and form meat into 4 large patties, 1 inch thick. Drizzle extra-virgin olive oil on top the patties then fry 5 or 6 minutes on each side in a hot skillet.

Place portobello caps on a small baking sheet gill side up and brush extra-virgin olive oil on them. Roast the caps 12 minutes. Remove them from the oven and season them with salt and pepper. Turn oven off. Top each cap with about 1/2 cup arugula and a burger. Cap burger with mozzarella and place back in still-warm oven. Melt the cheese 1 minute (I did it for 2). Transfer burgers on "bun" bottoms to plates. Top with onions and tomatoes and serve.

This will definitely be a staple in your recipe box!  

I hope you love it as much as we did =)