Juicy burgers with Gruyère, avocado, and pickled onions

When I spend big bucks for high-quality beef, I don’t need to weigh my burger down with a bready bun. Yes, there are plenty of decent gluten-free hamburger buns, but we prefer to eat our burgers wrapped in crisp butter lettuce. When serving burgers this way, the meat takes centre stage, just as it should. We often serve burgers with a side of parsnip crisps. And of course, you can add the condiments of your choice: ketchup, mustard, and homemade mayo are favourites at our house.

• serves

  4

• prep

  15 minutes

• cook

  18 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 500 g ground beef, at room temperature
• 1 tsp sea salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• 85 g Gruyère cheese, grated
• 1 avocado
• 1 head butter lettuce, leaves separated
• pickled onions

Marinating time 30 minutes

Resting time 5 minutes

Instructions

Sprinkle the beef with salt and black pepper and gently form four patties, each 2 cm thick. Prepare a grill for high-heat cooking. Grill the patties over high heat for 3 to 4 minutes on the first side. Flip and top with the grated cheese. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes on the second side for medium-rare burgers. Let the cooked burgers rest for 5 minutes before serving.

Pit, peel, and thinly slice your avocado. At serving time, nestle each patty into a large leaf of lettuce. Top with avocado slices, a little pickled onion, and plenty of ground black pepper.

Recipe from Yummy Supper: 100 Fresh, Luscious, and Honest Recipes from a {Gluten-Free} Omnivore by Erin Scott, with photographs by Erin Scott (Rodale Books, $24.99, available August 2014).

Read our interview with Erin Scott of Yummy Supper, and get more of her recipes.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.