Recipe Description
Quesadilla is a Mexican dish that consists of cheese melted in between flatbread and is commonly sold as a street food in Mexico. It has evolved from its humble origins over the years with the addition of meats and vegetables and is now often served at many restaurants outside of Mexico.
The name combines queso, or cheese in Spanish, and tortilla, and is traditionally made of corn tortillas although it may also be made with wheat flour tortilla. The cheese of choice would’ve been a stretchy Oaxaca cheese, but stringy cheeses such as mozzarella have become more common. It’s a simple dish that puts together components that can be prepared ahead of time and is an excellent way to make use of leftovers such as roast chicken and pulled meat. It’s also a way to incorporate lots of vegetables into the cheesy mix and make it a fully balanced meal.
My favourite vegetable to add to this dish is the capsicum, and roasting it over the stove creates a smoky flavour that somehow alters the taste of the bell pepper. Do not be overwhelmed by the black scarred skin because it will be scraped off after roasting to reveal the rich colourful peppers that sparkle like jewels in the quesadilla mix. The least messy way to make the quesadilla is to fold them into half pockets and allow the cheese to melt inside. These can be flipped over until both sides of the tortilla have become crispy before cutting into wedges to serve.
The other way is to fill up the entire round quesadilla and then flip them whole without spilling, which requires quite a bit of skill. Alternatively, whole quesadillas may also be grilled in the oven without flipping but the results may not look as nice as a pan-toasted one. When ready, cut the quesadillas into wedges and serve immediately. It may be complemented by a spicy salsa, pico de gallo, guacamole and additional sour cream, if preferred.
Recipe Ingredient
- 300g yellow onion, sliced
- 100g cremini mushrooms, sliced
- 4 tbsp cooking oil
- 1 tsp salt to taste
- ½ tsp pepper to taste
- 100g red capsicum
- 100g green capsicum
- 100g yellow capsicum
- 300g roast chicken, deboned & shredded
- 300g shredded mozzarella
- 100g sour cream
- 40g coriander
- 8 tortilla wraps
Instructions
- Roast capsicums on the stove over a wire rack until all the skins are charred black. Allow to cool then scrape off the charred skins and give the roast capsicum a quick rinse over running water.
- Remove stems and seeds, then slice capsicum into long thin strips. Cover and set aside.
- Heat oil in a skillet and toss in sliced onions to sauté until wilted. Add mushrooms to sauté until soft and watering. Season with salt and pepper to taste, then remove from the pan and allow to cool.
- In a mixing bowl, stir together the sautéed onions and mushrooms with the roasted capsicum, roast chicken, cheese, sour cream and coriander until combined.
- Heat a non-stick frying pan to medium and place a tortilla wrap to toast until warm to the touch. Flip the wrap over and while toasting, place the filling onto half of the wrap.
- Fold the wrap to cover the filling in a half-moon shape, then flip again to toast the other side until the bread is crisp and the cheese melted.
- Cut into wedges and serve immediately while hot and crispy with a side of salsa, pico de gallo, guacamole and additional sour cream.
