Open-Faced Roasted Pepper Swiss Venison Burgers

Flame-roasted peppers will spice up your venison burgers while adding needed moisture without added fat. Choose your peppers depending on how spicy you like your burgers. In a pinch, roasted peppers available in jars from your grocer will work, but make sure you drain them well before processing, or they will be too wet and won’t hold together when cooked.

I’ve been known to char my peppers over the gas stovetop in my home kitchen. Hold the peppers with tongs directly over the flame until blackened. OK, so you have to be careful not to catch the peppers on fire or mess up the range with burnt bits of peppers.

To keep the venison burgers together when cooked, wrap the raw venison in paper towels for 10 minutes, and press together to wick out as much blood as possible.

Print Recipe

Open-Raced Roasted Pepper Swiss Burger

Flame-roasted peppers spice up your venison burger while adding needed moisture, without added fat.

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American

Keyword: big game recipes, grilling recipes, ground venison recipes, venison recipes, wild game burger recipes

Servings: 4 servings

Ingredients

• 1 bell pepper, any color
• 1 jalapeno pepper
• 1 pound ground venison
• ¼ cup Italian breadcrumbs
• ½ tsp kosher salt
• ½ tsp ground pepper
• 4 slices Swiss cheese
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 slices sourdough bread (thick)
• ¼ cup mayonnaise
• 1 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 tbsp fresh basil leaves, minced
• red leaf lettuce
• 4 slices tomato (thick)

Instructions

• Place peppers over an open flame grill or burner, and blacken on all sides. Place in a paper bag, and roll up opening to steam peppers, and loosen charred skin. After 10 minutes, remove peppers from bag, scrape burnt skin away with a paper towel or the backside of a knife. Seed peppers and mince.
• Add minced peppers to a large bowl. Add venison, breadcrumbs, salt and pepper. Mix thoroughly with your hands. Form into 4 equal balls. OK, now this might sound a little goofy. Toss the burger balls back and forth into your hands like you would a baseball into a mitt. It will compress the meat and make it hold together better while cooking. Press each ball lightly into a patty, about 1 inch thick.
• Combine olive oil and garlic, and brush over one side of the sourdough bread slices.
• Grill or broil sourdough bread until lightly browned on the oiled side. Grill or pan-sear burgers over medium heat until cooked to desired doneness. Place cheese on top and cook until melted.
• Combine mayonnaise, lemon juice and basil. Place bread on plates, toasted side up. Top with lettuce, tomato, burger and a dollop of mayonnaise mixture.