August 29, 2023

Lamb Smashburger Tacos with Veggies and Tahini Sauce

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Recipe Provided By
"Brandon Roy"
Prep Time

--min

Cook Time

--MIN

Total Time

30 min

Servings

6

lamb smashburger taco

Ingredients

For the Lamb Smashburger Tacos:

  • 2 pounds ground American Lamb
  • 6 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil, (divided)
  • 6 pita breads
  • 2 tablespoons Greek seasoning, (divided)
  • 8 ounces Gruyère cheese, (grated and divided)
  • 1 cup chopped lettuce
  • 1 cup diced tomatoes
  • 1/4 cup hamburger dill pickle chips

Tahini sauce

For the Tahini Sauce:

  • 4 garlic cloves, (pressed or minced)
  • 1/4 cup lemon juice
  • 1/2 cup tahini
  • 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 1 pinch ground cumin
  • 6 tablespoons ice water, plus more as needed if you prefer a thinner sauce

Directions

To make the Lamb Smashburger Tacos:

Preheat your griddle to 350 degrees F. While the griddle is preheating, weigh out six 5-ounce portions of ground lamb and loosely roll each into a ball.

Drizzle 1 teaspoon of olive oil onto the hot griddle and place 1 ball of lamb in the oil. Center 1 pita on top of the ball of lamb, then firmly press down to flatten the lamb (the lamb should cover nearly the entire pita once it’s pressed). Cook for 3–4 minutes, then flip the burger with the pita side facing down. Season the burger with 1/2–1 teaspoon of the Greek seasoning, then sprinkle with a generous amount of the grated Gruyère.  Cover and cook until the cheese is melted and the bread is slightly crispy, about 1 minute. Remove the pita from the griddle.

Repeat the process with the remaining olive oil, lamb, pitas, Greek seasoning and Gruyère.

Top the smash burger tacos with chopped lettuce, diced tomatoes and pickles, then drizzle with the Tahini Sauce (recipe below).

To make the Tahini Sauce:

In a medium bowl, combine the garlic and lemon juice. Let the mixture rest for 10 minutes to give the garlic time to infuse the lemon juice with flavor.

Pour the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve into another medium bowl. Press the garlic solids with a spatula to extract as much liquid as possible, then discard the garlic.

Add the tahini, salt and cumin to the bowl. Whisk to thoroughly combine the mixture.

Gradually add the ice water to the tahini mixture 2 tablespoons at a time, whisking after each addition, until smooth. (It may seize up at first—don’t worry!) Once you’ve added all the ice water, you should have a perfectly creamy, smooth, light-colored tahini sauce.

If desired, thin with additional water for a drizzlier sauce. Taste the sauce and adjust if necessary—if you’d like more tang, add more lemon, or for more overall flavor, add another pinch of salt.

USDA recommends the following time and temperature parameters

Ground Lamb

Internal temperature of 160°F

All Other Cuts

Internal temperature of 145°F, with a 3 minute rest

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