Turkey Parmigiana Sliders

The good thing about opening a restaurant is that when I'm at home, I crave food that I don't cook at work. So anything Asian, specifically Filipino dishes are things I don't cook at home if at all possible. I get enough cooking and baking time with that specific cuisine that doing it at home too is just overkill. So when I thought about making dinner the other night, it was easy to come up with things to make. One thing I haven't had in a while are burgers. I've also been craving Italian food lately. Looking at what random ingredients I had on hand, I came up with these Turkey Parmigiana Sliders. These satisfied my Italian food craving with a burger... all rolled up in one!

I haven't been home much with working long days at the restaurant, so the last I time went grocery shopping was at the end of the year. At that time, I stocked up on ingredients and picked up some random things as well. To work with, I had a package of ground turkey, dinner rolls, a jar of pasta sauce and some sliced mozzarella. Putting it all together, these Turkey Parmigiana Sliders were born. The ground turkey was seasoned with spices such as Italian seasoning, basil and oregano with some grated Parmesan cheese mixed in for good measure. After forming mini burger patties, they were pan seared and placed into toasted split dinner rolls. I topped the burgers with more pasta sauce a couple slices of mozzarella cheese and popped them into the oven until the cheese melted ever so slightly. To finish them off, a topping of shredded romaine lettuce added that extra color and fresh texture. They're so easy to make and so good as a snack or a meal.

Turkey Parmigiana Sliders

original Joelen recipe

1 pound ground turkey
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
salt & pepper to taste
4 slices mozzarella cheese, each slice cut into quarters
1/4 cup pasta sauce - homemade or store bought
1/2 cup shredded romaine lettuce
12 dinner rolls, split & toasted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a bowl combine the ground turkey, all the spices, cheese and salt & pepper. Form large meatballs and flatten to create small patties. Brown each patty on both sides in a skillet with a little oil and transfer the patties to a baking sheet.

Top all browned patties with a teaspoon of pasta sauce and a couple slices of cheese. Bake in the preheated oven for a few minutes until cheese begins to melt.

While the patties are baking, spread a teaspoon of pasta sauce on the bottoms of the split dinner rolls. Transfer each patty onto the bottoms of the rolls and top the burgers with shredded lettuce and the tops of the dinner rolls. Serve immediately.