Mini falafel burgers with yogurt and mint sauce

Lebanese cuisine is a real delight. I love preparing dishes based on this cuisine and enjoying them with friends on summer nights. Who dares to prepare copious dishes in this hot weather?

For this reason and because I know that you love to surprise your guests, I suggest you try some mini hamburgers, which, as you know, are always a hit and if they are not the usual ones we have in mind, they will always be a success. For this reason, today, I bring you mini falafel hamburgers . Yes, falafel, a fantastic option to get away from chickpea vinaigrettes and thus eat legumes in a different way.

And not only that, I imagine you're thinking that falafel is made fried, but this is not the case, it's falafel made on the grill , of course, in my Le Creuset skillet , ideal for everything you have in mind and more; and if that weren't enough, accompanied by a creamy and refreshing sauce that you'll want to prepare for everything and always have on hand.

Are you up for it? Keep the Gefu press handy, which will be your great ally today.

Gefu Mini Burger Press and Wooden Board

Ingredients

For 8-10 mini burgers:

• 250 g dried chickpeas
• ½ red onion, chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic
• ½ cup breadcrumbs
• ½ bunch fresh cilantro (leaves only)
• ½ bunch fresh parsley (leaves only)
• 2 tablespoons tahini
• 3 teaspoons ground cumin
• ½ teaspoon ground cayenne
• 1 and ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 8-10 hamburger buns
• Arugula and lamb's lettuce
• Pickled red onion
• Extra virgin olive oil

For the sauce:

• 250 g Greek yogurt
• 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• Finely grated zest of ½ lemon
• 12 mint leaves, chopped
• Salt
• Pepper

Le Creuset skillet frying pan , Pallarès carbon steel Pallarès kitchen knife and wooden board

Elaboration

1. We start by hydrating the chickpeas, soaking them for at least 8 hours.
2. Once hydrated, place them in a food processor along with the garlic, onion, tahini, cilantro, parsley, cayenne, cumin, pepper and salt. Blend until you get a homogeneous texture but not too fine.
3. Pour the mixture into a bowl, adjust the salt if necessary, mix with the breadcrumbs and let it rest for at least 30 minutes.
4. After half an hour, we will check that the burger dough has enough consistency to form a ball without sticking to our hands. If not, we could add some more breadcrumbs to dry the mixture. Next, we will form the mini burgers, for this we will use our Gefu mini burger press , as you already know, it is a manual press ideal for getting all the burgers the same and making our work easier (you can follow the same recipe for the regular burger version, with the burger press ). Keep in mind that on this occasion we will have to moisten the base of the press to help us unmold them.
5. Once the mini burgers are ready, we will cook them on the grill in our Le Creuset skillet , to do this we will heat it with 3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil. Once hot, we will cook the burgers; it is important to cook them for about 6 minutes on each side without turning them constantly so that they get browned and cooked well on the inside.
6. While the burgers are cooking, prepare the sauce. To do this, mix all the ingredients in a bowl and season with salt and pepper. Set aside.
7. Once we have the burgers ready, we will heat the buns cut in half in the skillet.
8. Finally, we assemble the mini burgers. To do this, we pour a spoonful of sauce on the base of the bread, place the burger on top of the sauce, then add pickled onion and top with arugula and lamb's lettuce. We close with the other layer of bread and we have a dinner ready to enjoy on these delicious summer nights.

Revol wooden board and round porcelain plate

If you want, you can have the burgers made in advance and cook them before serving. I also give you the idea of ​​presenting all the ingredients on a tray, the ones from Emile Henry are ideal , and let everyone prepare their burger the way they like it.

And now it's your turn to tell us, what is your favorite burger? Do you like veggie burgers or are you more of a classic burger person?