Pizza Burgers

 I made the brave (crazy?) decision last week to allow my two oldest kids to each choose a menu that they would help prepare this week. The experiment actually turned out really well! The Boy is the one who chose our pizza menu for Sunday night, and today I'll be sharing about the menu our Oldest Girl chose. She combined two of our family's favorite foods and decided on Pizza Burgers. As a side, she wanted to make Creamy Parmesan Pasta. The burgers were a definite hit, and though we decided the pasta could have used more sauce, we really liked it, too.

Pizza Burgers

1 pound ground beef (85/15 for burgers)
1/4 cup finely chopped green pepper
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
1 clove garlic, chopped
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup marinara sauce
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
4 hamburger buns

In a small skillet, saute the green pepper, onion and garlic in a drizzle of olive oil until veggies just begin to soften. In a large bowl, combine veggies, beef, salt, pepper, Parmesan and 2 tablespoons marinara. Divide into four patties and grill/fry on stovetop until they reach desired doneness. Just before they're done, top with marinara and mozzarella, cover until cheese is melted. Serve on buns.

I used string cheese, cut in slices, since I was out of shredded mozzarella.

If I'd had pepperoni, I would have chopped some up and added that to the beef mixture. You could also sub Italian sausage for all or part of the beef.

I'll share the Creamy Parmesan Pasta recipe tomorrow!