This week on my weird food adventure, I am entering the world of animal shaped treats as I try my hand at making turtle burgers.

Now, despite what the name suggests, these burgers are not made of turtle; instead they contain a delicious combination of bacon, cheese, beef and hotdogs.

It is a recipe which I came across by accident after discussing plans for Christmas dinner with my family and friends. You see, in my house, one stuffed animal is usually not enough to satisfy everyone’s hunger during the festive feast, so instead we tend to favour the less conventional, but equally delicious, three bird roast, sometimes known as the turducken.

This festive treat, for those of you who have not heard of it, usually consists of a turkey, stuffed with duck and chicken. It is an acquired taste but, for my family at least, Christmas would not be the same without it.

As a result, I decide to search the net for other recipes that follow the same principal and eventually come across the turtle burger, a dish that involves stuffing beef with hotdogs and then wrapping it in cheese and bacon.

Although it is not the healthiest recipe I have ever found online, it does promise to turn all of my favourite comfort foods into a cute, edible turtle, so I am powerless to resist giving it a try. And, to quote Man V Food host Adam Richman, everything is better with bacon!

I start by making a burger out of beef mince (it is possible to use lamb, pork or turkey if you prefer). I then create a head, tail and legs for my turtle out of hotdogs and stick these into the burger.

After shaping the meat so it looks like a turtle, I coat the top of it with a layer of cheese (I used mozzarella but you can use whatever is your favourite) and then wrap it up in a layer of streaky bacon.

The burger looks fantastic and I hope that it will still resemble a turtle when it emerges from the oven in 25 minutes.

After a long wait, it is finally time to taste the finished burger and it is just as good as I had hoped it would be. The melted cheese provides a nice filling and the bacon, beef and hotdogs work really well together, even better than I had anticipated.

So if you can’t decide between burgers, hotdogs and bacon for dinner, why not combine them into this delicious concoction? You will not be disappointed.

If you would like to try making turtle burgers soup follow the recipe below.

100g of beef mince (you can use pork, turkey or lamb if you prefer)

2 hot dogs (thinner ones work best)

4 rashers of bacon

1 slice of your favourite cheese

Mustard (optional)

1 Pre-heat your oven to 200 degrees centigrade

2 Take your mince and shape it in to a burger

3 Poke six holes in the side of the burger using your finger. These holes will be used to attach the arms and legs of the turtle.

4 Cut your hotdogs into thirds. Take four of the chunks and, on the end of each, make three little evenly spaced cuts to create the legs. Turn a fifth piece into a tail by cutting one end into a point.

5 Push the chunks of hotdog into the holes in the burger, making sure that the legs are on either side of the burger and the head and tail are at the top and bottom. The hotdog chunks may seem a little lose but, once the bacon has been wrapped around the body, they will stay in place.

6 Add your cheese slice to the top of the burger

7 Take your slices of bacon and wrap them around the burger until the body of the turtle is covered. Make sure the legs, head and tail are still visible.

8 Place the burger in the oven for 20-25 minutes

9 Let your burger cool for a couple of minutes and then use the mustard to add on the turtle’s eyes

10 Serve and enjoy

This recipe is for one burger.

If you have got a weird recipe that you would like me to try email me. Alternatively, if you have tried making this recipe, why not let me know how you got on by leaving a comment in the box below.

Happy baking!

Click here to read my Weird World of Food: hot fruit and dark chocolate soup blog