I’d never thought to base a burger on oats until I took part in judging the recent Nature’s Path recipe contest. One of the finalists was a delicious cheese and onion oat burger. I just had to recreate it in dairy-free format for Baby A! Gluten Eating Husband was quite partial too. A nice one for Meat Free Monday.

I roasted the butternut squash as I love the extra flavour it brings, but you could just as easily steam it if you’re short on time. I’ve kept the mix quite rough and textured. If you prefer a finer texture, simply pulse the mix in a food processor instead of mixing by hand.

Butternut Squash, Apple & Sage Oatburgers

Serves 2 adults and 1 baby

Ingredients

• 1 small butternut squash, peeled, de-seeded and chopped into 2cm cubes (approx 450g)
• ½ onion, finely chopped
• 120g quick-cook gluten free oats, or 4 sachets of Nature’s Path Hot & Steamy Porridge (the apple and cinnamon one works well)
• 1 small apple, grated
• 2tsp sage leaves, finely chopped (about 8 leaves)
• 1 medium egg
• A little olive oil for roasting and frying

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180ºc. Tumble the butternut squash in a little olive oil to give a light coating, and roast until tender, and just starting to brown (about 40 minutes).
2. When roasted, leave to cool slightly before roughly mashing with a fork. Leave the oven on.
3. Mix the butternut squash with the remaining ingredients to form a sticky mix.
4. Divide the mixture, roll into balls and shape into burgers. The mix will make 4 large burgers, plus two baby-sized ones.
5. Heat a little oil in a frying pan over a medium heat, and fry the burgers on both sides until golden brown.
6. Return the burgers to the oven to finish cooking for 20 minutes.

Variations

• If you aren’t dairy free, a little crumbled blue cheese makes a delicious topping. Add it before putting the burgers in the oven.
• If you can’t eat eggs, a little apple purée can be used to bind the mix.

For more ideas with gluten free oats, check out my post.