This recipe is as hearty or thrifty as you (or your family budget!) want it to be. It is a great use of Sunday roast leftovers as the sausage can be easily replaced with stuffing and the swede could easily be carrot or potato. If there are family members who consider themselves firm swede haters - they might not notice it cooked this way. And if they do - they may even like it. If you want to use less chicken, this can easily be bulked out with more swede and cheese sauce at no loss to flavour. But you may want to add extra breadcrumbs.
Serves 4, generously
4 tblsp cheese or white sauce
4 slices bread toasted and whizzed to breadcrumbs
2 handfuls cooked chicken
1 sausage, taken from its skin and roughly chopped
2 cups cooked, mashed swede, cooled
I clove garlic, crushed
1 egg, beaten
1 cup flour
2 tsp oil, 1 tsp butter to cook
Onion and leek melt 1 onion, sliced to fine half moons
1 leek finely shredded
Davidstow cheddar, 1 handful chopped to cubes
Cook the sausage briskly for 4-5 minutes. While this is sizzling away, chop chicken finely and mix with swede and garlic.
When cooked, remove sausage from the heat and put on a cold plate to cool.
Use your hands to mix breadcrumbs through the swede mix, squishing it together as you go.
Finally, stir through the sausage and cheese sauce and divide the mix into 4 even pieces.
Shape into large patties and cool in the fridge for 10 minutes.
While the burgers are cooling, fry the leek and onion gently in a hefty slice of Trewithen butter, adding a splash of water if the leeks brown to quickly.
Cook for 6 minutes or so and cover with a lid when they are soft.
To cook, remove the burgers from the fridge, prepare to pasta bowls or deepish plates: 1 with the beaten egg and one with flour. Crumble sea salt over the flour and mix well.
Using 2 forks, roll the burgers one at a time through the egg and then with the flour. make sure they are coated well.
Heat oil and butter in a heavy based pan and, when frothy, lower in the burgers
Cook over a medium heat and turn when the bottoms are crisped deeply
They will take 15-20 minutes to cook, or can be finished in a hot oven if they are falling apart a little (they sometimes do depending on consistency and warmth of the cheese sauce you’re using
Toast 4 burger buns - De Bara ciabatta rolls are perfect - on the cut side for a minute or 2.
Blast some heat under the onions and tip in the cheese so it starts to melt
Top the buns with the burgers and a good dollop of the cheese and leeks, if using, and serve with salad and potato wedges.
As well as a good place for Sunday lunch leftovers, this is a great way to use up sauce left over from a pasta bake or lasagne. Recipe works fine without it, just use 2 beaten eggs to bind it all together.
Stuffing mix is good in place of sausage meat, and of course you could use 2-3 sausages if they need using up.