Beef burger with anchovy butter

This recipe is adapted from the Minetta Tavern-inspired anchovy burger recipe.

I was surprised by how well this simple recipe works.  The anchovy butter doesn't give the burger any noticeable anchovy taste.  It just really lifts the flavour of the beef patty.

• beef mince, 500g
• this is enough to make 4 or 5 burgers. The instructions are easily modified for making different quantities.
• anchovy fillets in oil (one anchovy per burger)
• unsalted butter, at room temperature.
• sea salt
• hamburger buns

Anchovy butter

You'll want enough butter to fairly generously spread over the top and bottom half of each bun (so maybe around 2 tbsp per burger), and one anchovy per burger.

Mince those anchovies, and mix them well into the butter.


Patties

I find this the best way to make patties.  It doesn't overwork the meat, and keeps it loosely-packed in the patties.

Lay some baking paper over a chopping board and gently pull apart the mince onto it (you don't need to be finicky - just do a rough job of it), and gently spread it over the area.  Add some salt and pepper.

Instead of forming the mince into balls then flattening them out, just form the mince straight into patty-shaped discs.  Push a hole in the middle of each patty with your thumb, so it won't bulge up in the middle while cooking.  The baking paper makes it easy to pick the patty up to transfer it to the pan.


Cook patties

Heat a frying pan over a medium-high heat, letting it get fairly hot.
Cook the patties for 3 minutes on each side.  You want to get a nice caramelised crust on them.

Loosely wrap the cooked patties in aluminium foil to let them rest.


Toast buns

Turn the heat down in the pan to a medium-low heat (the exact temperature doesn't matter much), and wipe the fat and burnt bits out of it with a paper towel.

Cut the buns in half, and toast them, cut side down, until they're lightly toasted.


Assemble burger

You'll want the patties to have rested for about 5 minutes before you assemble the burger (so they aren't scorching hot, and so the temperature will be even within them.  Remember that the foil will keep them warm).

Spread the top and bottom halves of the buns with the anchovy butter.
Add the burger patty to the buns, and you're done.