Good, dirty, hearty grub

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Veggie burgers get a bad reputation from a market saturated with bean patties and the like (which can be very tasty – just not a particularly decent substitute for an actual burger).

Fortunately, supermarkets are starting to sell some pretty good alternatives these days, but you’re not here because you want to buy a veggie burger – you’re here because you want to make one.

Well, this one is easy and a bit of a cheat because it uses Quorn mince – so not completely from scratch. BUT… it’s tasty as hell.

Recipe

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Serves: Four burgers
Cooking time: 25 minutes

Ingredients:

• 300g pack of Quorn mince
• One red onion
• Eight medium mushrooms
• Around two tablespoons of jalapenos (more or less depending on your ability to tolerate spice)
• A handful of grated cheddar
• Pinch of salt
• A tablespoon of smoked paprika
• A teaspoon of cracked black pepper
• Oil

Finely chop the red onion, and chuck it in a pan on a high heat, along with the entire pack of Quorn mince and a dash of oil. Fry for around five minutes, or until the mince is starting to brown on the outside.

Finely chop the mushrooms and jalapenos and add these to the pan. Fry for another five minutes.

Add the salt, smoked paprika, pepper, and cheese, and combine well.

Transfer the contents of your pan into a food processor, and blitz until the mixture resembles crumbs. Tip everything out into a mixing bowl.

By now the cheese should have started to melt. This will act as your binding agent.

Take a quarter of the mixture, compress it into a ball in your hands and then flatten, so that you have a burger shape. Repeat for the others.

Get your pan back on a high heat and carefully transfer your burgers into the pan. Fry with some oil – without being tempted to move them – for four minutes, and then flip them and do the same on the other side.

Serve the veggie burger with a bun, burger sauce, a slice of cheese and fried onions on top of the burger. And a copious amount of chips, obviously.