According to Joe Bastianich, hamburger meat, black pepper, sunflower oil, red onion, lettuce, American cheese and mayonnaise the ingredients you need for a truly gourmet homemade burger – an iconic recipe created by Bastianich ad hoc and inspired by the Big Apple, the home of the real burger. To celebrate the Italian debut of Hellmann's mayonnaise, Joe Bastianich decided to share his recipe for this New York-style burger stacked 7 cm high with all of us at La Cucina Italiana. And the secret ingredient? Mayonnaise!
The Smashburger: Joe Bastianich’s Iconic Recipe
Ingredients for the burgers: 4 hamburger patties (about 7 cm tall), 2 tbsp sunflower oil, Fine salt and freshly ground black pepper, 2 hamburger buns, 1 tbsp butter
Ingredients for the toppings: 4 slices American Cheese, 4 thick slices of red onion, 4 lettuce leaves, Hellmann's Mayonnaise
Special equipment needed: 2 flat steel plate spatulas
Method:
Place the burgers on a baking sheet and store in the freezer for up to 15 minutes. In the meantime, heat a heavy-bottomed cast-iron or stainless steel pot. After cutting the hamburger buns in half, toast them with a little butter on the inside of the bun in the pot until golden-brown – about 2 minutes. Set aside. Remove the hamburger meat from the freezer and increase the heat of the pot. Grease it with a couple of tablespoons of oil until it almost starts smoking. Cook the burgers by crushing them with a heavy flat spatula (or a meat tenderizer) until they are almost half their thickness. It will take approximately 1 ½ - 2 minutes per side to cook. After browning on the first side, flip the burger using the spatula. Add salt and pepper to the cooked side before adding a slice of cheese on each patty. Continue cooking for another 1 ½ - 2 minutes. Then transfer the two burgers to the lower half of the bun, covering each with lettuce and grilled onions before adding the Hellmann's mayonnaise and closing the burger with the upper half of the bun. Serve immediately.
