Pizza Burgers

As I mentioned in my last post, my life has changed a lot lately. My work schedule has been a bit crazy and I've been keeping some odd hours. It sort of feels like I've been living in bizzaro-world. The check-out guy at the grocery store recently told my husband and myself to have a good evening. I was so confused... then I realized it was almost 3 pm. I'd been awake for two hours, at most. Luckily, this isn't going to last a whole lot longer.

I recently had about a half of a loaf of some really delicious focaccia bread to use up. Conveniently, I came across a pizza burger recipe that used focaccia instead of regular buns. It sounded interesting to me, and my husband is always up for things involving pizza. Or burgers. I didn't follow the recipe closely but I don't think I'd change a thing about what I did.

This was really good. I don't think focaccia is necessary, but if you have it, I think it added a little something.

Pizza Burgers
Inspired by Rachael Ray
Makes 2 burgers
Cook & Prep Time - 20 minutes

INGREDIENTS
1 jar spaghetti sauce or pizza sauce
1-2 TBSP olive oil
1/2 lb ground beef
1/4 lb Italian sausage
15-20 slices pepperoni, cut into small pieces
1/2 small onion, diced
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
salt & pepper
~1/2 tsp Italian seasoning (I'm guessing - I eyeballed it)
1-2 leaves basil, chiffonade (optional)
mozzarella cheese
focaccia bread, cut into two burger-sized pieces.

DIRECTIONS
In a small pot, heat up the spaghetti sauce.

Heat up a couple of TBSP oil in a medium pan over medium heat.  Also pre-heat the broiler.

In a medium bowl, mix together the ground beef, Italian sausage, pepperoni, onion, garlic, salt, pepper, Italian seasoning, and basil. Form into two patties. Add to the pan and cook for about 5-7 minutes per side, or until cooked through.

Transfer the burgers to a cookie sheet and top with spaghetti sauce and mozzarella cheese. Put under the broiler for a few minutes, until the cheese gets bubbly.

While the burgers are under the broiler, toast the focaccia buns for a couple of minutes (I did this in my toaster oven).

Put the burgers on the toasted buns and enjoy!