VEGETARIAN

KAMUT BURGERS WITH SHALLOTS, PECANS, AND LEMON ZEST

²⁄₃ cup Kamut

4 tablespoons olive oil, divided

1 medium shallot, minced

¼ cup pecan pieces

1 tablespoon minced fresh sage leaves or 2 teaspoons dried sage

2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest

2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves or 1 teaspoon dried thyme

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon ground black pepper

1 (15 ounces) can white beans, drained and rinsed

1 large egg

1. Fill a large saucepan about halfway with water and bring it to a good boil over high heat. Stir in the Kamut, reduce the heat to low, and cook until the grains are tender, about 1 hour, maybe a little longer. Drain in a fine-mesh sieve or a colander lined with a large coffee filter or paper towels.

2. Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add 1 tablespoon of the oil, then the shallot and pecan pieces. Cook, stirring often, until the shallot starts to turn translucent, about 2 minutes. Add the sage, lemon zest, thyme, salt, and pepper. Set the skillet off the heat as the Kamut continues to cook.

3. Place the cooked Kamut in a food processor. Scrape the contents of the skillet into the food processor. Add the white beans and egg. Process to form a somewhat grainy, pastelike, thick batter, scraping down the sides of the bowl once or twice to make sure all the Kamut hits the blades. Scrape down and remove the cutting blade.

4. Wash and dry the skillet; set it over medium heat for a couple of minutes. Swirl in the remaining 3 tablespoons oil. With dampened hands, form the batter into 6 round, fairly flat patties. Slip these patties into the skillet and cook until browned and a little crisp on one side, about 4 minutes. Turn the patties and continue cooking until set throughout and browned on the other side, about 4 more minutes. If your skillet is not large enough to hold all 6 patties without crowding, work in two batches, using 1½ tablespoons olive oil for each batch.

SERVES 6

Active time: 15 minutes

Total time: 1 hour 30 minutes

Make ahead: Cooked patties can be covered on a plate and stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 days; reheat in a dry skillet over medium-low heat for a couple of minutes per side.

Save time: Use 1²⁄₃ cups cooked Kamut and omit soaking and cooking the raw grains.

GRAIN SWAPS

• Substitute ²⁄₃ cup hard red wheat berries for the kamut.

TESTERS’ NOTES

• There’s no need to soak the Kamut because the grains are eventually going into the food processor; their texture is not as important as their flavor—which will work well against this summery palette. That said, we did soak the hull-less barley for the Barley and Pecan Burgers. In that case, we were trying to get the barley as sticky as possible so that it could bind without any additional egg.
• Don’t let the shallot go too long over the heat. You want to retain some of its spiky, slightly sour notes, rather than fully caramelizing it. That way, it’ll offer a better contrast to the creamy, somewhat sweet Kamut.