Chicken Kotleti ( Russian Burgers)

Have you seen recipes for chipotle-and-sun-dried-tomato meatloaf? How about Gruyère- and-truffle-oil macaroni and cheese? This is one of those recipes--an old-school, plain Jane dish made sexier with unusual ingredients.

Kotleti are Russian pan-fried hamburgers, usually served with sides like rice or potatoes (never on a bun). They’re no-frills, everyday food that I’ve never much liked. However, I did like this recipe on the new (to me) blog Mango and Tomato. The Russian-born writer made Asian-inspired chicken kotleti with water chestnuts, ginger, soy sauce and cilantro. I followed her example and made chicken kotleti with feta cheese, parsley and scallions, and served them with sautéed spinach instead of starchy sides.

Method:

Mix 1 pound ground chicken (or turkey, beef or lamb) with: 2 eggs, a small handful finely-chopped parsley, 3 tbs. chopped scallions, a large, finely chopped garlic clove, ¼ cup breadcrumbs and 3 tbs. feta. Season well with salt and pepper.

Divide the mixture into 6-8 patties, and sprinkle lightly with flour. Heat up some oil (I used sunflower) in a non-stick pan, then fry the burgers until done, flipping them several times. If using chicken or turkey, be careful not to overcook. My chicken burgers took less than five minutes to cook.