Cheese burgers

Makes 4

Preparation time 20 minutes Cooking time 15 minutes

Nothing beats a juicy cheese burger! Make sure you use good cheese and fatty mince – ask your butcher to use steak with lots of fat to make your mince.

You need

• 2 tablespoons butter

• 1 tablespoon olive oil, plus extra

• 1 small onion, finely chopped

• 2 cloves of garlic, finely grated

• 2 teaspoons fresh rosemary needles, finely chopped

• ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper

• 500 g fatty steak mince

• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil

• 1 cup grated mature cheddar

• 2 teaspoons sea salt

• ground black pepper, to taste

• braai marinade (see recipe on this page)

Here’s how

1 Heat the butter and olive oil over a medium heat and fry the onion, garlic, rosemary and cayenne pepper for about 10 minutes until translucent and flavoursome. Set aside to cool down.

2 Using your hands, mix together the mince, Dijon mustard, basil, cheddar, sea salt and black pepper. Add the fried onions and mix well.

3 Make four even-sized balls and flatten each with your palm into a patty that’s slightly bigger than your bread rolls.

4 Heat a cast iron pan and add a little olive oil. Fry the patties and only turn them over when the meat starts to form a brown crust. Fry for about three minutes a side or to your taste.

5 Baste the patty with the braai marinade and fry for another minute on each side.

6 Serve the beef patties on buttered rolls with an extra slice of cheese, mayonnaise, gherkins and crispy bacon.