Pesto Salmon Burgers

So a few days ago I made a very large batch of garlic scape pesto (garlic scapes, basil, parmesan cheese, lemon, toasted sunflower seeds, salt, pepper...I think that was all).  I had it on pasta a few times, and it was delicious, but I wanted another application for my pesto to spice things up a bit.  Luckily I stumbled upon "50 Ways to Use Pesto" on the Foodnetwork.com website!  One thing that caught my eye was Pesto Salmon Burgers.  I knew we had some canned salmon in the pantry, so this would be perfect to put together quickly for lunch.  Eaten with some farm fresh lettuce, homemade baguette (post to come), and some avocado - it was absolutely delicious!

Pesto Salmon Burgers
inspired by Foodnetwork.com

Ingredients:

• 1 6oz. can of salmon
• 2 heaping tbsp pesto
• 1 egg
• 2 tbsp bread crumbs
• 1/3 cup frozen corn kernels, defrosted
• 2 generous handfuls of fresh basil leaves, chopped
• lemon juice, to taste
• salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. Drain the liquid from canned salmon and put the drained salmon in a medium bowl.
2. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well with a fork.  Taste and make any adjustments necessary.
3. Use an ice cream scoop to measure out the patties - I got exactly four (it always makes me smile when things work out so evenly).  Make the patties about a 1/2 inch thick and press them firmly together.
4. At this point, I wasn't ready to cook the burgers, so I put them in the fridge for 2 hours.  I think this helped them firm up so they didn't break apart during the cooking process.
5. Coat the bottom of a pan with olive oil (not too much, but don't be too skimpy either because you don't want the burgers to stick).  Heat over medium-high heat.
6. Cook the patties for 4 minutes on each side.  Be gentle with them!
7. Serve warm or cold.

Confession: one patty fell apart a little as I was taking it out of the pan.  Needless to say, it was not worthy of this glamour shot...but it was worthy of a home in my belly!