Gremolata Burgers

Makes 4

Gremolata, an Italian herb condiment traditionally made of fresh parsley, lemon zest, garlic and sometimes anchovy, is a common accompaniment to braised veal shank.

Here we nix the anchovy and mix the rest into ground beef for a bright, summery grilled burger.

1 cup chopped fresh parsley

2 cloves garlic, minced

Zest of 1 lemon, minced

1⁄2 teaspoon crushed red pepper

1 1⁄2 pounds ground beef, at least 20% fat

Salt and pepper

Vegetable oil for grill

Sliced fresh mozzarella cheese

Buns

Sliced fresh tomato

In a bowl, combine parsley, garlic, lemon zest and crushed red pepper to make gremolata. Stir gently into ground beef and form into 4 patties, slightly thicker on the edges than in the middle.

Heat grill to high.

Sprinkle burgers with salt and pepper. Oil grill and cook burgers 3 minutes per side for medium-rare, flipping once (or cook to desired doneness). (Use a meat thermometer if you want to check temperatures: 145 for medium rare, 160 for medium, which is the USDA recommended minimum temperature for ground beef.)

When almost finished cooking, top burgers with mozzarella.

Remove from heat, place on bun, add tomato and enjoy.