Juicy lamb and cumin burgers

The way to my husband’s heart is burgers and books – he has an insatiable appetite for both. So when he kindly took the day off work to look after the boys when I was feeling decidedly full of cold, I decided to get the burger press out and reward him with a meat fest.

I’d picked up a recipe card on my last visit to Waitrose featuring a very juicy and tempting looking burger festooned with red onion marmalade… I knew this would come in handy at some point!

It’s the simplest burger recipe I’ve possibly ever made as it doesn’t feature breadcrumbs or egg to bind it together. It’s just lamb mince, finely chopped shallot, a crushed clove of garlic and a spoon of ground cumin. I was amazed how well the burgers formed, but I guess lamb is a fattier and therefore stickier meat than beef.

Rather than make four big fat burgers, being in an economical mood I used my burger press to make seven regular-sized patties. I cooked some and froze a couple for future emergency burger situations!

The onion marmalade was equally easy to prepare – a red onion finely sliced and gently softened in a pan with olive oil for 15 minutes, then cooked for a further five minutes with some red wine vinegar and dark brown muscovado sugar.

It delivered a sweetness that really complimented the flavours of the lamb and cumin.

I served the burgers up in giant floury baps with salad on the side. Sam insisted on raw frozen peas being scattered on his salad – he and Arlo will happily munch on peas straight out of the freezer, a habit I find strange but endearing.

You can find the exact recipe for Lamb and Cumin burgers on the Waitrose website.