I wanted burgers but I had some leftover pepperoni so, like anybody not wanting to have things go to waste, I combined them into my lean beef mince mixture. If you have some pepperoni leftover, after making something like pizzas, or you just want to add some fat/oil to your lean mince mixture with extra flavour too.

Ingredients (For Two Burgers)

• 1/2 Red Onion, Diced
• Small Shallot, Diced
• Mixed Herbs, Paprika, Black Pepper
• Worcestershire Sauce
• 250g Beef Mince (I Used 5%, The Pepperoni Fats Make Up For It)
• 6-8 Slices Spicy Pepperoni, Chopped
• Bread, Salad And Sauces To Serve

Method

1. Put onion and shallot into a large bowl
2. Add mixed herbs, paprika, black pepper and Worcestershire sauce (I haven’t given amounts as this is all based on personal preference but for actual flavour you need a bit more than you probably think)
3. Add the beef mince and pepperoni slices
4. Give it all a good mix, but once it is combined don’t just keep mixing more, and put it into the fridge for 10-15 minutes
5. Heat up a frying pan and make the mixture into patties and place into the pan
6. Turn over halfway through cooking, depending how thick you made them probably after about eight minutes, and place some cheese on top and cover whilst it finishes cooking and the cheese melts
7. Get your bread and salad ready whilst the melting happens and serve it all up

Eating And Storage Tips

This would work well with milder or more spicy pepperoni but also things like salami as well. Another great option would be those pepperoni sticks; I used to get those and put on small pizzas as a kid but if you happen to have a kid that has suddenly decided they don’t like them in their lunchbox slice them thin and mix them in here.

On reflection, I should have probably blended up my onion and shallot and then patted it dry a little to make sure the mixture didn’t end up too wet. Had I done that I might have roughly blended the pepperoni a bit more too and then mixed it all into the beef mince. That would have given a far smoother texture and well rounded shape. But if you’re also a little lazy then this will hold together well enough and none of the chunks are really obvious.

You can absolutely make these up in advance. You can make the mixture up and then freeze it in patty shape with a little parchment paper in between them so you can take as many out a time as you might need. Alternatively you can cook them up and then put them into the fridge but if you’re doing this reheat them carefully as it could splatter everywhere in the microwave or end up a little dry. The main thing to remember if you’re planning to reheat them from the fridge then probably hold off adding the cheese for now.