Recipe: Bacon Cheeseburger

Bacon Cheeseburger with Homemade Pickled Courgette Ribbon and a glass of English Fizz!

Cottonworth Classic Cuvée is a stunning English sparkling wine, crisp and fresh to start with and becoming soft and creamy in the mouth. When you’ve got a bottle of bubbly this good, you can of course whip up an exquisite culinary masterpiece to go with it – but we think there’s something fabulously indulgent about combining sparkling wine with something a bit naughty like this big fat burger. 

This juicy beef patty is topped with melted mature cheddar and thick slices of crispy belly pork (a serious upgrade on standard bacon rashers). The quick homemade pickled courgette ribbon is deliciously tangy and prevents the whole thing from being too rich.

A note on ingredients – you could, of course, make your own burgers, but since you can buy such good ones from a proper butcher, we've chosen to spend a little time upgrading the trimmings instead.

Serves 2. Skill level: medium. Time: approximately 1-1.5 h.

You will need:

• 2 good-quality beef burgers
• A couple of slices of pork belly
• Salt and freshly-ground black pepper
• Smoked paprika
• Mature cheddar
• 2 brioche burger buns
• Rocket
• Your choice of condiments

For the pickles:

• 1 large cucumber
• 80 ml white wine vinegar
• 200ml water
• 1 tsp salt
• A pinch of sugar

Step-by-step process:

1) To start, make your pickled courgette ribbons – they need about half an hour in the fridge. Use a potato peeler or a mandolin to cut the cucumber into fine ribbons. Mix the salt and sugar with the vinegar and water until dissolved. Pack the cucumber ribbons into a big jar, pour in enough of the vinegar mixture to fill it all the way up and put in the fridge (you can keep them longer if you like, and the flavours will develop further).

2) Next, prepare the pork belly – slice horizontally to make slabs about 5 mm thick. Mix  a good pinch of salt and freshly-ground black pepper, and a tablespoonful of smoked paprika, and rub it all over the slices.

3) Heat a splash of olive oil in a frying pan and add the slices of pork belly to sizzle. Meanwhile, in another frying pan (an ovenproof one if possible) fry the beef burgers with a little more olive oil, until beautifully browned on all sides.

4) Next, cut the cheddar into thin slices and lay on top of the burgers so it hangs over the edges all the way around. Then put the frying pan with the burgers under the grill to melt the cheese, keeping a close eye on it to make sure it doesn’t burn.

5) To finish, assemble the burgers. Spread the bottom buns with your condiments of choice – mayo, ketchup, burger relish or whatever you fancy. Top with rocket and your cucumber ribbon.

You can buy Sula Vineyards Chenin Blanc 2017 online here!