Meatball Burgers (A Max & Erma's Copycat)

Everyone loves a good cheeseburger (except vegetarians).  My fiance could eat them twice a week if I made them, but eventually eating the same thing week after week can get boring.  With grilling season beginning, here's a spin on your traditional cheeseburger.

I was in Max & Erma's a little while ago where I had an awesome Meatball Burger.  I, of course, said to myself "this seems easy enough -- I could make it at home," and now I will pass my knowledge on to you.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb of Ground Beef (or Turkey or Venison)
• 3 tbsp Grated Parmesan Cheese
• 2 tbsp Onion Flakes
• 1 tbsp Garlic Powder
• 1/2 tbsp Italian Seasoning
• 1/2 tsp Sea Salt
• 1/2 tsp Pepper
• 1 Large Egg (optional if you're using a lean meat)
• 2 Hamburger Buns (Pretzel Buns if you have them)
• 2 tbsp Pizza Sauce (divided)
• 2 slices of Provolone Cheese

First, fire up your grill so it has time to heat up. Whether it's charcoal, gas or a George Foreman -- anything will work.  Also, I made green beans as the side dish for this meal.  I've been trying to replace potatoes with vegetables so I figure green beans are a similar shape to french fries so that's what I made.  After I heat up the grill, I put about 4 quarts of water in a pot on the stove to boil for the green beans.

Next, place the thawed ground burger in a bowl.  (My burger wasn't completely thawed when I got home from work so I thawed it in warm water before hand which is why it isn't completely pink.  Technically you're supposed to thaw it in cold water.)  Once your burger is in the
bowl, add the Parmesan, onion flakes, garlic powder, Italian seasoning, sea salt, pepper and egg if you need it.

Mix the ingredients together with your hands and then pack the mixture into two patties.  You can obviously make them into smaller patties if you wish.  It's just the two of us so I just make two burgers.

Disclaimer: these look gray because of the fat content as well as the color of most of the ingredients.

Once your grill is warmed up, place the patties on it.  You'll want to cook them until their internal temperature is 160 degrees.

This grill may look weird to you because we converted a gas grill into a charcoal grill.

While the burgers are grilling, cut the ends off of the green beans.  When the pot of water comes to a rolling boil, place them in the boiling water.  You'll want to boil them for at least 4 minutes.

Once the burgers are almost done, Place a 1 tbsp dallop of pizza sauce on each patty and then add a slice of provolone on top.  It's at this point that I toast the buns as well.  I didn't have pretzel buns so I just used regular hamburger buns.  In order to just add a little something to them, I buttered the bottoms of them.

Once the green beans are done boiling, drain the water from the pot or strain them out using a slotted spoon.  Place them in a 10" skillet with about 2 tbsp of butter and saute over medium heat for 4 minutes.  Then season with a pinch of sea salt and they're ready.

Once the cheese has melted and the buns have browned, remove the burgers and buns from the grill.

And here is the finished product:

ENJOY!