Bazzin' Burgers

Speaking of feet up in front of a box set, here's another contender – the bazzin' burger.

For those not familiar with the word “bazzin'” I should explain that it's a slang word for excellent, great and/or fantastic, used in the Midlands and in the North West of the UK.

Entirely appropriate for the following recipe – it sounds so much better than “veggie burger”!

Bazzin' Burgers

4 sweet potatoes – 700g ish

400g tin chickpeas, drained and rinsed

(240g drained weight)

2 tbsp chickpea flour (gram)

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground coriander

2 tsp sweet smoked paprika

grated zest and juice of a lemon

or 2 tbsp lemon juice

75g grated Parmesan

150g Panko crumbs

black pepper

Rapeseed oil for shallow frying

Pre-heat oven 180fan/200c/Gas 6

Bake the sweet potato (pricked and wrapped in foil) for an hour then check – may need longer depending on size of potatoes. Cool, then snip the end, cut along the length and the skin peels away. Let them cool.

Blitz the chick peas – you want texture, not dust – see below about shucking!

Mix the potatoes, chick peas, gram flour, spices and lemon juice.

You'll get 8 quarter pounders [4oz or 110/120g]. Roll between your hands into a ball and then flatten to form into a burger shape. You may need a dusting of plain flour to prevent sticking.

Mix the Parmesan, panko and black pepper together then coat each burger.

Shallow fry the burgers on a medium heat in rapeseed oil, sealing on both sides so that they are golden and crisp – 2/3 minutes on each side – reduce the heat to low and fry gently for a further 10 minutes or so, turning or you can set aside having sealed the burgers on both sides then cool, cover and fridge until required. Pre-heat your oven as above and pop the burgers on a baking tray and re-heat for 15 minutes.

The shucking stuff

Before you blitz your chick peas you might like to remove their outer husk. It's not compulsory but they can be tough. Tip them onto a shallow tray lined with kitchen roll. Add another layer of kitchen roll and move the kitchen roll using the flat of your hands for 30 seconds. Lift the kitchen roll and you'll see the outer husk of the chick pea comes away. You don't have to do this if you don't mind the husks – I think it's worth the effort and you can shuck whenever you have five minutes. This is all stuff that you can prep when it suits you.

That's the boring bit out of the way – a relish to go with and the all important assembly coming next.