Jamie: Keep Cooking and Carry On
By Jamie Oliver
My Botham burgers
With tangy corn & pineapple salsa
1 hr 10 mins plus cooling
Not Too Tricky
serves 10
About the recipe
An old Oliver classic, this is named after one of the most famous cricketers of all time, Mr Ian Botham, because – you guessed it – the burgers are cricket ball size. This bad boy was on the menu for many years at my mum and dad’s pub, and I used to help make them in the kitchen
Recipe From
Ingredients
2 leeks
olive oil
1 carrot
1kg minced beef
100g fresh or stale breadcrumbs
optional: 1 x 250g packet of cooked lentils
2 teaspoons Dijon or wholegrain mustard
1 tablespoon baby gherkins
½ a bunch of fresh herbs (15g), such as parsley, mint
100g Cheddar cheese
SALSA
2 corn on the cobs
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
1 lime
½ a bunch of fresh soft herbs (15g), such as parsley, mint, chives, basil
1 fresh chilli
1-2 mixed-colour peppers
¼ of a ripe pineapple
200g ripe tomatoes, on the vine
30g feta cheese
Top Tip
Once you’ve shaped your patties, feel free to wrap and pop some in the freezer for another day.
Method
- Put a non-stick frying pan on a medium heat.
- For the burgers, trim, halve, wash and finely chop the leeks, then place in the frying pan with 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Peel and finely chop or coarsely grate the carrot and add it to the pan. Cook for 10 minutes, or until soft but not coloured, stirring regularly. Tip onto a tray and spread it out to help it cool quickly.
- Put the minced beef, breadcrumbs, lentils (if using, see swaps below) and mustard in a large tray or bowl. Finely chop and add the gherkins and herb leaves.
- Once the veg is completely cool, add to the tray and use clean hands to mix and scrunch it all together well.
- Now, with wet hands, divide into 10 and shape into balls, patting them together well, but not packing them too tightly – there’s nothing worse than dense balls. Line them up on an oiled roasting tray as you go.
- Place the tray in the fridge for 1 hour, or until you’re ready to cook.
- Preheat the oven to 180CºC/350ºF/gas 4. Roast the burgers for 40 minutes, then pull out the tray and coarsely grate over the cheese. Return to the oven for a final 10 minutes, or until golden and bubbling.
- Meanwhile, for the salsa, run a sharp knife down the shaft of the corn cobs to remove the kernels. Sprinkle them into a dry non-stick frying pan on a medium-high heat and let them char and catch for a few minutes, tossing occasionally.
- Put the oil and vinegar into a large bowl, squeeze in the lime juice and add a pinch of sea salt and black pepper. Finely chop and add the herb leaves and chilli, to your taste.
- Deseed the peppers, peel and core the pineapple, then finely chop with the tomatoes, adding them to the dressing as you go.
- Tip the hot, charred corn straight into the salsa mix and toss well. Crumble in the feta, then taste and check the seasoning, tweaking with more vinegar, if needed – you want it to be slightly more acidic than you think it should be.
- Serve the cheesy Botham burgers and tangy salsa with a simple green salad and some good spuds, whether jacket, wedged or roasted new potatoes, it’s all good.
I’ve used minced beef here, but minced pork would also be delicious, as would a mixture of the two.
My wife doesn’t like onions, so I’ve used leeks here, but by all means use white or red onions, or even use shallots or spring onions.
The lentils are optional, but they’re great for upping your veg count. Feel free to swap in drained tinned beans instead – just scrunch them with clean hands first to break them up a bit.
When it comes to herbs for your burgers, any soft ones will be delicious; parsley, mint, marjoram, chervil, tarragon, or you could even use rosemary or thyme.
For the salsa, it’s fine to use tinned or frozen sweetcorn, and you could swap in jarred peppers if you don’t have fresh. Carrot or cucumber would add a nice bit of crunch, and the pineapple could be tinned, or it could be peach, apple or pear. You need acidity for the salsa, so vinegar, lemon or lime juice are all good, or use a mixture.
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