hola, isabel

Hey guys, it’s Carrisa. I’m so thrilled to be guest posting here for Isabel. She’s kind of my favorite internet person. And when she told me this was going to be a week of How To’s… well I knew right away what my contribution would be. Cooking!

Now I myself am a picky eater. My husband is also a bit of a picky eater. My husband also does not like some of the finer things in life like cheese… and noodles. Sometimes I wonder why I even married him. However, there is one food that has teh cheez on it that he will eat. Pizza. Apparently there is something somewhat non offensive about mozzarella. Unless of course your name is lasagna in which case you are #1 on the most offensive foods list. Crazy husband.

So because I can get him to eat pizza, I figured I could get him to eat these lovely gems that my mother used to make for me. So let me introduce to you… Pizza Burgers!

There aren’t a whole lot of ingredients involved here. I like to keep things nice and simple. Now I know what you might be thinking. Is that SPAM??? Um yeah. In my defense this is absolutely the one and only time you will ever find Spam in my kitchen. We do not eat Spam. But for the sake of this recipe, just bear with me. I did not create the recipe, I only share it.
Ok, can we all just agree to be on board with this now? Ok, good. Now go preheat your oven to 350 like a good girl. Or boy. Then get out a skillet and turn the heat to medium high. And also? I am no Pioneer Woman so please excuse my mediocre photos and my not so clean kitchen. I’m a messy cook.

So toss that ground beef into the skillet and cook it up right. You don’t need to add any seasonings to the meat, but you’re more than welcome to if you’d like. I imagine some minced garlic or oregano would be alright.

While the ground beef (or ground turkey, your call) is cooking take that hunk of Spam and introduce it to your cheese grater.

That grater likes to show the Spam who’s boss.

Don’t forget about the skillet. It’s important to remember to stir.

Once that meat is all good and cooked, go ahead and drain it. It’s the right thing to do.

Toss it back in the pan and reduce heat to medium. Then add that wretched Spam. It won’t bite, I promise.

Now add that jar of pizza sauce. Make sure it’s pizza sauce and not pasta sauce. There is a difference you know?

Now add the cheese. Mozzarella of course. About 1.5 cups. Or more if you REALLY like cheese. Which I totally do, but for the sake of my husband I hold back a bit. I would probably even put some parmesan in there if it were up to me, but I don’t really like sleeping on the sofa so I just stick with the mozzarella.

After a couple of minutes it will look like this. This is where I fight the urge to add something wonderful… like maybe some sliced black olives. But again… the thing with the sofa. I really love my wonderful comfy bed. Of course now that I think about it I could totally get away with adding chopped onions to this. Why have I never done that before? You should do that. And let me know how it is. But don’t add peppers. Because I don’t like those. And it is all about me right?

Now where was I? Oh right.

Take a cookie sheet and spread out the hamburger buns. Squeeze as many of them on there as you can. I like to get things done in one batch. That may be why I don’t like baking cookies. Of course I still bake them. They have such a power over me.

Now get out a spoon or one of these handy dandy ice cream scooper. This one is one of those fancy ones from Ikea that cost me a whole $1.49. Try not to be jealous. I have connections.

Scoop the fabulousness onto the buns. Don’t be skimpy.

You could even throw caution to the wind and sprinkle some additional cheese on top. I only did it to these three, out of respect for my husband.

Slide them puppies into the oven and bake them for about 10 minutes. Or maybe 12. Depending on your oven. You’re really just trying to get them nice and toasty. I don’t have a real timer so I use the one on the microwave. Don’t judge me.

When they come out they will look something like this. I probably should have left them in for a couple more minutes to make the buns just a bit toastier. But hey… we were hungry.

Now if you are a normal family you might do something like serve these with some salad. Or some kind of vegetable on the side. But in keeping with tradition, I serve them solo. Just like Mom did.

Don’t those look good? So can we all just agree to look past the fact that they have Spam in them and just give them a try? And if you absolutely just can’t get past the Spam then go ahead and be a traitor and just use some other kind of ham product. But just know that if you do, you are dead to me. I mean it.

Pretty much everyone I’ve ever fed these to has loved them. Of course I usually don’t tell them about the Spam until after they’ve inhaled them. Sometimes I don’t tell them at all. I just call it a secret ingredient. What they know won’t hurt them.*

Well that’s it for my how to post. I thank you all for your time. And I thank Isabel for allowing me the opportunity to share with you all.

Make sure to come back tomorrow to see what Christar has in store for us.

*No Jews were harmed during the making of these pizza burgers. I would never secretly serve pork to a Jew. Just so you know.