Melissa Clark – Serves 8

Sliders, who doesn’t love the little baby burgers? The marriage of chorizo sausage and plain ground pork creates spicy patties that are the star of the show. This recipe from Melissa Clark uses Manchego cheese, which adds a salty creaminess and keeps the peppery profile provided by the chorizo. Served with a generous pile of caramelized sliced onions on Hawaiian sweet rolls, this recipe is decadent and delicious. Your taste buds are going to fall in love. 

Annie is a big hamburger fan. For years, it was the only thing she would order at a restaurant. She claimed to be in search of the perfect burger. I thought it wasn’t the healthiest lifestyle. But under the theory that if you can’t beat them, join them, I decided to make a spicy version and serve it at the 18th birthday lunch of my bonus son, Greg. To be honest, I normally cringe at the thought of chorizo, and ground pork is on the bottom tier of meat choices. Chorizo is so red, has all that paprika and just can’t be very healthy! Let me tell you,  everyone loved the sliders (Javi avoided the grilled onions), and a star was born. The health thing? Maybe once a year a small slider is acceptable. 

Ingredients

• 1 lb Ground pork 
• 1 lb Fresh (uncured) chorizo, squeezed out of its casings 
• ½ t Kosher salt, plus more as needed 
• ½ t Smoked paprika (hot or sweet) to taste 
• ½  t Ground cumin 
• 1 Garlic clove, minced 
• 1 ½ T Extra-virgin olive oil 
• 1T Sherry vinegar 
• 2 t Honey 
• 1 Onion, sliced 
• 6 oz Manchego cheese, thinly sliced 
• 12 King’s Hawaiian rolls  
• Mayonnaise, mustard, and/or ketchup, for serving (optional) sliced pickles, for serving

Directions

• Heat a grill or broiler on high heat.
• In a large bowl, combine the pork, chorizo, salt, paprika, cumin, and garlic, mixing just to combine. Form into 12 patties, taking care to keep the mixture loose and not pack it tightly (which makes for a tough burger, as does overmixing; always use a light touch with ground meat).
• In a small bowl, mix together the olive oil, sherry vinegar, and honey. Brush this over both sides of the onion slices and sprinkle them with salt. 
• Grill or broil the onions until they are golden brown on both sides, about two minutes per side.
• Transfer the onions to a plate.
• Grill or broil the burgers on both sides until they are cooked to medium. Since this is raw pork, the meat should be cooked until pink on the inside but not red rare (140°F will give you medium to medium-rare meat). This can take anywhere from three to six minutes per side, depending on how thick you formed your patties and how hot your fire is, so watch them carefully.
• Now build your sliders with the onions on the bottom, the pork patties in the middle and the sliced cheese on top. Let people customize the sliders with the condiments.