Smash and Grab Burger with Chips

We're excited to give you a sneak peek of this delicious smash burger recipe from Joe's new family cookbook Healthy Start, available to pre-order. Right now it's half price at just £11.

"As a family, our favourite thing to do on a weekend is go out to a burger joint for an epic smash burger," says Joe. "I’ve said it all along: there is no greater culinary invention than the humble burger in my opinion. If you’ve never made a smash burger it’s actually really simple and lots of fun. Every man, woman and child will be grabbing with excitement when this lands in front of them."

Ingredients

Serves 4

• 500g minced beef
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• olive oil, for drizzling
• 4 slices of mild cheddar cheese
• salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the chips:

• 800g Maris Piper potatoes, scrubbed (unpeeled) and cut into chips
• 2 tbsp olive oil

__For the burger sauce: __

• 50g mayonnaise
• 2 tsp tomato ketchup
• ½ tsp Dijon mustard
• 1 tsp pickle brine (from the jar of gherkins)
• ¼ tsp paprika
• ¼ tsp garlic powder
• 10g fresh dill, finely chopped

To assemble and serve:

• 4 brioche buns, cut in half and lightly toasted
• ¼ iceberg lettuce, finely shredded
• 2 tomatoes, sliced
• ½ red onion, finely sliced
• 12 slices of pickled gherkins
• tomato ketchup

Total time: 40 minutes

Method

Preheat the oven to 200°C (180°C fan/gas mark 6) and line a large baking tray with baking paper. Have ready 8 smaller squares of baking paper, one for each burger in the pan later.

Spread the chips out on the lined baking tray and season with salt and pepper. Drizzle over the olive oil and brush the seasoning evenly over all the chips. Roast in the oven for 25 minutes, turning them halfway, until golden brown and crisp.

Meanwhile, to make the burger sauce, combine all the ingredients in a bowl, season with salt and pepper and set aside.

Put the minced beef in a large bowl, sprinkle over the garlic powder and season generously with salt and pepper. Get stuck in with clean hands, mixing to combine, then divide into 8 equal- size portions and shape into balls.

Drizzle some olive oil into a large frying pan over a high heat. Drop in 2–4 beef balls, spacing them out. Working quickly, pop a square of baking paper over each one and smash them down hard using a burger press or the bottom of a sturdy pan. Peel off the paper and let them cook for 2 minutes until beautifully crisp, then flip.

Lay a slice of cheese on half the patties and cook for another minute until melted, then stack with the plain patties. Lift out and keep warm on a baking tray. Wipe the pan clean with kitchen paper and repeat with the remaining beef balls.

To assemble, spread the burger sauce over the top and bottom halves of all the buns. Add lettuce, tomato, a double patty, red onion and gherkins, then top with the other half of the bun.

Serve with the home-made chips and some tomato ketchup.

Find more banging recipes on The Body Coach blog.