Chicken Pesto Burgers with Roasted Tomatoes

Roasted Tomatoes Courtesy of Epicurious
Chicken Pesto Burgers Courtesy of Plated Perfection

Tomatoes, pesto sauce, fresh mozzarella? Yes, please! I have been wanting to make these for quite some time and finally got my chance tonight! My wonderful friend, Rebecca, made this fresh bruschetta the other weekend when she had Nick and I over for dinner, and I just couldn't get these roasted tomatoes out of my mind! They were just so delicious...I keep thinking of the multiple ways I can use them! However, for now, I decided to top my burgers with them :) Yum. Nick and I are trying to be healthy, so I made a few of these without the cheese and a couple with the cheese, just because I can't help myself. We decided to go bun-less, you know, to cancel out the cheese I had on mine!

Chicken Pesto Burgers:

1 package ground chicken (approximately 1 pound)
3-4 tb pesto sauce
1 tb Italian seasoning
salt and pepper, 1 tsp each
1 clove garlic, minced
Olive oil, for the pan
Approx. 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated or shredded
3-4 basil leaves, chiffonade (for topping)
Romaine lettuce (in place of buns)
Fresh mozzarella, sliced (I used 1 piece per burger)
Pizza sauce, for topping (optional)
2 quartered plum or Roma tomatoes, roasted (recipe below)

Mix the ground chicken, pesto sauce, Italian seasoning, salt, pepper, garlic, and parmesan cheese together. Score the mixture to form 4 even patties. Shape into patties. Add a swirl of olive oil to a skillet and cook the patties about 5-6 minutes per side. Place the mozzarella on the burgers and place in the oven under a high broiler for a couple of minutes, until the cheese melts to your desire. The chicken patty should reach 165 degrees and no longer be pink. Place the burger on a leaf of lettuce and top the burger with heated pizza sauce, roasted tomatoes, and basil. (Feel free to serve without the cheese.)

Roasted Tomatoes:
3 plum or Roma tomatoes, quartered
3 tb olive oil
1 garlic clove, minced
1-2 tsp finely chopped fresh rosemary
dash coarse kosher salt
dash ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 425°F. Stir oil, garlic, rosemary, salt, and pepper in bowl to blend. Add tomato quarters and stir to coat. Let stand 5 minutes. Line rimmed baking sheet with foil. Lift tomatoes from marinade and arrange, cut side down, on prepared baking sheet (reserve marinade for later). Roast tomatoes until skin is browned and blistered and tomatoes are very tender, about 15-20 minutes.