Driven by the desire to prepare something not too fatty, I thought of making vegetable burgers that were tasty and versatile at the same time, so possibly to be eaten on a plate or in a bun.

I wanted to keep a vegetarian line by adding just some pecorino cheese to the mixture to give a little extra boost to the flavor, which might otherwise have been somewhat bland.

Making vegetable burgers is very simple, but it will take some time as you need to boil the potatoes, carrots, and broccoli hours beforehand and let them cool completely before using them in the preparation. Besides, I chose air fryer cooking because once formed, the patties are quite soft and not suitable for pan frying to avoid breakage.

For the mixture, I combined the potatoes with the carrots and broccoli, chopped in a food mill and then seasoned with salt, pecorino cheese, sage, and chives. Finally, I formed the burgers and cooked them for about 20 minutes.

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Difficulty: Easy
Cost: Cheap
Preparation time: 4 Hours
Portions: 8
Cooking methods: Air frying
Cuisine: Italian
Seasonality: All seasons

Ingredients

For the vegetable burgers in the air fryer

2.2 lbs potatoes
2 carrots
5.29 oz broccoli
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sage
1 tbsp chives
1 tbsp pecorino cheese
as needed extra virgin olive oil

Tools

Air Fryer
1 Burger Mold
Food Mill

Steps

To make the vegetable burgers in the air fryer

First, you need to boil the potatoes at least 4 hours before making the burgers. Place them in a large pot, turn on the heat, and cook for about 30 minutes. After 20 minutes, add the carrots and broccoli to the same pot to cook for just 10 minutes. Drain the vegetables and let them cool completely in a colander.
Next, peel the potatoes and cut them into pieces, placing them in a large bowl as you go. Do the same with the carrots and broccoli, cutting them into pieces and mixing them with the potatoes.
At this point, use the food mill to gradually reduce the potatoes, carrots, and broccoli into another bowl before discovering what we’ll do in the next step.
In this step, we’ll season the mixture with the necessary ingredients: salt, pecorino cheese, sage, and chives. Then, with your hand, knead everything until all the ingredients are well combined.
Now we’re ready to form our burgers, so get a mold and grease your hands with plenty of extra virgin olive oil. Next, take a portion of the mixture and place it in the mold, pressing and leveling it as much as possible.
Proceed by unmolding the burger, then flip the mold onto the palm of your hand until the patty is extracted. Once it comes out of the mold, place it on parchment paper and form all the others until the mixture is used up.
Finally, arrange the burgers in an air fryer, using the same parchment paper as a base, and avoid handling them too much since they can be quite delicate.
Lastly, cook at 392°F for about 20 minutes until the surface is golden and crispy. At the end of cooking, remove the basket and let it rest for a few minutes before removing them and serving at the table.