Hidden Treasures Italiano Burger

Ingredients

4 lbs beef (24% ground chuck)
3 tsp Kosher salt
2 tsp fresh cracked pepper
1 cup crushed crackers (original flavor)
3 tbsp dried oregano
3 eggs
1 cup olive oil
3 fresh balls of mozzerella (6 slices may be subsituted if fresh, water-soaked mozzarella is not available)
6 Roma tomatoes
2 large red onions
6 small ciabatta buns (or two large ciabatta loaves if buns are not available)
1 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup jarred basil pesto
2 cloves chopped garlic
3 oz. arugula

Instructions

1. Place 4 lbs (24% chuck) beef into a large glass bowl. 2. Add 3 tsp Kosher salt and 2 tsp cracked pepper. 3. With a rolling-pin, crush one column bag of Ritz crackers in a one quart storage bag. 4. Once the crackers are finely crushed, add 3 tsp of dried oregano. 5. Pour crackers and oregano mixture on top of the beef. 6. Crack 3 eggs into bowl. 7. With gloved hands, hand-mix the beef to incorporate the salt, pepper, and seasoned crackers with the beef. 8. After reaching a uniform consistency, divide the mixture into twlve balls and place on a cookie tray lined with parchment paper and cover with plastic wrap. (Before moving on to rest of the burger assembly, start coal in grill. After lighting coals, brush olive oil on cleaned grill racks.) 9. On a cutting board, cut 3 fresh balls of mozerrella into 12 inch slices. Sliced mozzarella from plastic sealed packages can be used if water-soaked fresh mozzarella is not available. 10. Once the mozzarella has been sliced, place on a plate and set aside. 11. Clean cutting board and horizonally cut 6 roma tomatoes into small rounds. Once done cutting, place on a plate and set aside. 12. Again clean cutting-board (or use seperate cutting boards if available) and cut 2 red onions into thin round slices. After done cutting, place on a plate and set aside. 13. To assemble each of the six burgers, take two patties. Pat down the two patties and on one patty place two sliced of fresh mozzarella (or only one slice of packaged mozzarella), three slices of Roma tomatoe, and one round of red onion. 14. Place second patty on top of mozzarella, tomatoe, and onion filling. 15. Press down the sides of each patty to make sure the meat is evenly distributed around the filling and there are no openings. Place filled patties back onto the parchment-lined cookie sheet. 16. Brush olive oil on one side of each of the 6 patties. Place the oiled side of the patties on the grill. Try to keep the patties from not touching one another and towards the middle of the grill. 17. While the patties are grilling, cut in half 6 ciabatta buns (or 2 large ciabatta loaves, and cut the loaves into four approximately 4 in x 4 in pieces). 18. To a small glass bowl, add 1 cup mayonnaise followed by stirring in 1/4 cup jarred pesto. Make sure the mixture is uniform in texture and coloring. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and set aside. 19. Brush the top of the burger patties on the grill with olive oil after 10 minutes, then flip burgers. 20. Chop 2 cloves of garlic and add to a small glass bowl with 1/4 cup olive oil. 21. Brush oil and garlic mixture onto bottoms of ciabatta. 21. After 10 minutes on the second burger patty side, remove patties onto a clean cookie sheed or tray. 22. Place ciabatta oiled side down onto the gril for 2 mintues. 23. Remove ciabatta and immediately spread approximately 2 tbsp. of mayonnaise-pesto spread on top half of ciabatta bun. 24. Place one burger patty on bottom half of each bun and each patty with approximately 1/2 ounce of washed arugula with the stems cut off. 25. Place bun tops with mayonaisse-pesto side down on top of the arugula. FINITO!