Chicken Breast Burgers stuffed with Goat Cheese and Basil, with a Grilled Red Sauce
Ingredients
For the sauce:
2T olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
5 cloves garlic, chopped
2 cans whole tomatoes, drained
2t kosher salt
1 t fresh ground black pepper
½ cup Sutter Home Chenin Blanc
3T dried basil
For the burgers:
2 lbs chicken breasts skinless, boneless, trimmed of fat
½ cup Sutter Home Chenin Blanc
2T kosher salt
1T freshly ground black pepper
½ oz fresh basil leaves, roughly chopped
5 ¼ oz (half of a 10.5 oz pkg) Chevre style goat cheese, softened 6 gourmet style Kaiser rolls
Instructions
Prepare the grill with direct heat on one side, and indirect heat on the other. Place a saucepan over the direct heat and add the olive oil and the onion. When the onion becomes translucent, add the garlic and cook for about 45 seconds, to soften it. Crush and add the tomatoes, then add the salt and pepper. Cook until it begins to dry out, then add the wine and the basil and cook until thick; then remove from the heat and blend (a submersible blender works great) until it comes together. It’s easy to over-blend, but you really want it to be the consistency of a thick salsa so it doesn’t run off of your burgers. While the sauce is cooking, grind the chicken and place it in a large bowl. Mix into it the wine, salt, and pepper. Form into 12 evenly sized patties, between ½ and ¾ of an inch thick. Chop the basil, and in a separate bowl from the chicken mix it with the goat cheese. Separate the mixture into 6 portions and spread it (keeping away from the edges so you can get a good seal) onto 6 of the patties. Place the other 6patties onto them and press the meat together around the edges for a good seal, to keep the cheese from leaking out while cooking. Place the patties over the direct heat and keep a watch on the seams to make sure you don’t get any leaks. Once the patties have lightly browned and sealed they can be moved to the indirect side of the grill to finish. Just before the patties are done, split and toast your rolls over the direct heat. Assemble with the red sauce both on top of and underneath of the patties, so that you get enough to balance out the richness of the goat cheese.