Pizza Steak Burger

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I recently saw a pizza burger recipe over on the Pioneer Woman's blog and that reminded me of this sandwich I used to love as a kid that was served at a local root beer stand here in Cincinnati. Unlike the Pioneer Woman's recipe, this one was very basic and didn't have all the toppings like hers did. It also had the cheese inside the burger, not just on top. I figured a plain version would be more kid friendly in my house, and it wanted to try putting the cheese on the inside. I'm not a huge fan of Italian sausage so I use regular breakfast sausage instead and I always use ground sirloin instead of ground beef because it is lower in fat.

Ingredients:
1 lb. ground sirloin
1/2 lb. sausage
1 packet of Italian dressing mix
Butter
1/4 cup diced onions
Sliced provolone or mozzarella
Pizza sauce (I use a local one from LaRosa's)
Kaiser rolls from a bakery
Any preferred toppings (I top mine with a few onions, pickle slices and a tiny bit of mayo)

Mix your sirloin, sausage and Italian dressing packet together in large bowl. Prepare a spot for your burgers on the counter by placing wax paper on your counter. Take a small ball of the meat mixture in your hand and shape into a thin patty. Place a slice of cheese or two on top, then top it with another thin patty. Keep doing this until all your meat is used.

I'm making these in a large skillet inside on my stove,  but you can cook on your outside grill. If cooking inside, my trick for some of the best tasting burgers is to cook diced onions in some butter until the onions are carmelized. I then cook the burgers on top of the caramelized onions. To caramelized the onions, you'll want to cook them over medium heat until the onions not only become translucent, but start to turn brown. Since you diced the onions, they will shrivel up to the point where you'll barely even notice them after you cook the burgers. If you're grilling outside you'll skip this step.

Cook the burgers to your desired done ness, and remove from heat. Split your kaiser rolls  and stick in a 400 degree oven for just a few minutes. Warm the pizza sauce, then assemble your burgers on the rolls with the pizza sauce and any toppings you prefer. Serve with a delicious salad and dinner is done!