Thanksgiving Dinner Burger

Ever since I announced the Thanksgiving Dinner Burger Challenge I've been dreaming up all kinds of burger combinations. Ideas were running through my head constantly and then I saw them.....Baked Creamed Pearl Onions, and I knew I had to incorporate them.

My obsession with the creamed pearl onions wouldn't go away so I decided to model my burger after a recipe for sausage stuffing. Using the creamed pearl onions as a topping, I wanted to incorporate all the other elements of the stuffing into the burger. To the ground turkey I added sausage, grated apple, celery and fresh sage. Now for the fun part... the bread. I opted for King Arthur's Stuffing Buns, a sage-scented yeast bun reminiscent of stuffing. To add color and freshness to the burger I decided to top them with a little fresh spinach.

My Thanksgiving Dinner (Sausage Stuffing Inspired) Burgers
Makes 12 mini burgers or 4 regular burgers
1 recipe King Arthur Stuffing Buns, recipe found HERE (Note: Stuffing bun recipe makes 16 mini buns or 8 regular sized hamburger buns)
1 recipe Baked Creamed Pearl Onions, recipe found directly below
About 2 handfuls of spinach

For the burgers:
1 pound ground turkey
1/4 pound sausage
1/2 stalk celery, grated
1/2 red gala apple, grated
4 sage leaves, chopped
1 egg
About 1/2 - 3/4 cup panko or breadcrumbs (enough to bind the mixture)

Prepare stuffing buns, set aside. Prepare baked creamed pearl onions, set aside.

Mix burger ingredients together. Form mixture into 12 mini patties or 4 normal sized burgers. For mini burgers, cook about 3-4 minutes each side.

Place burgers on stuffing bun. Top with spinach and a spoonful (or two) of baked creamed pearl onions.

Baked Creamed Pearl Onions
Original Recipe
Ingredients
1 cup pearl onions, peeled (mine were from the produce dept/could use frozen)
sprinkle with dash of salt and pepper
1 tablespoons butter, melted
1/4 cup crushed buttery round crackers
1/2 cup heavy cream, or enough to cover just the tops of the crackers
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place onions in small ramekin or small casserole dish. Season with salt and pepper. Pour melted butter over onions and sprinkle crushed crackers on top. Pour cream over crackers. Bake in preheated oven for 30-40 minutes, or until bubbly and crackers are golden.

Notes/Results: The turkey burgers themselves were amazing. They were extremely juicy and flavorful from the addition of sausage, grated apple, and grated celery. A very good blend of flavors. The baked creamed pearl onions oozed with cream and looked beautiful pouring down over the burgers. The only issue with these burgers were the stuffing buns. No one liked them. I was a little surprised to find that they were dry (maybe my fault), but also that they lacked flavor and weren't really reminiscent of stuffing in anyway. We ended up eating them on different buns altogether. All in all, the burgers and toppings were a hit, just not the bun.

I had so much fun putting the different elements of this Thanksgiving Dinner Burger together. I'm still toying around with ideas for another Thanksgiving Dinner Burger coming up.

If you'd like to participate in the Thanksgiving Dinner Burger Challenge, please see my original post HERE.

A big thanks to Natashya of Living in the Kitchen with Puppies and also to Teresa of A Blog About Food for their contributions, please see each of their links below for further inspiration:
Natashya's Thanksgiving Dinner Burger
Teresa's Favorite Turkey Burger