Quesadillas
Quesadillas come from Mexico and are primarily just a tortilla wrap with cheese in it. There are so many variations and there is nothing that is right or wrong, just a filling to suit your taste. We would vary ours, sometimes adding chicken, sometimes chorizo, sometimes just vegetables but whatever we do, the basics are the same … tortilla wraps, strong grated cheese (we use extra mature cheddar) and a filling. The Taco seasoning is pretty key to this and we make our own. You can buy it in the shops but a) it is nothing like as good and b) it is very expensive! Try this recipe and then make your own variations, but we strongly recommend sticking with the Taco seasoning. We serve ours with shop bought pickled red cabbage (life is sometimes too short!) and a little spring onion sprinkled over the top. This does make a good breakfast or lunch and, when we do so, we sometimes put a fried egg on top!
Quesadillas
Ingredients
- 200 g Extra Mature Cheddar Cheese
- 1 Chicken Breast that's all you need for two!
- 1 small Red Onion
- 1 Red Pepper
- 2 medium Tomatoes
- 4 Spring Onions scallions or salad onions as they are sometimes called
- 4 small Tortilla Wraps
- 1 tbsp Olive Oil old slag, keep the extra virgin for salads
For the Taco seasoning
- 1 tsp Paprika we don't use smoked as we don't like it!
- ½ tsp Ground Cumin
- ¼ tsp Cayenne Pepper
- ¼ tsp Garlic Powder
- ½ tsp Onion Powder
- ½ tsp Oregano marjoram is more traditional but oregano is fine
- ½ tsp Salt
- ½ tsp Freshly Ground Black Pepper
Instructions
- Slice the red onion as thinly as you can. It does make a difference! Slice the red pepper into small cubes (about 5mm cubed), slice the two tomatoes into the same size, slice the spring onions into 5mm slices.
- Cut the chicken breast into fine cubes no more than 10mm in size.
- Start by frying the red onion gently in a little olive oil. Don't fry too harshly, you are looking to soften them only. When the red pepper has softened add the sliced red onion and fry until softened, then add the spring onions and tomatoes (this process should take no more than 10 minutes to achieve)
- Whilst the red pepper, red onion, spring onions and tomatoes are softening, make the taco seasoning. Simply add all of the taco seasoning ingredients into a bowl and mix well
- When all of the vegetables have softened, add the taco seasoning, mix well and add about 50ml of water just to help it develop into a sauce. Add the chicken, turn the heat up to medium/high and cook until it is cooked through (about 5 minutes)
- Take each of the four small tortilla wraps and add a handful of the cheese to one half (about 50g per tortilla wrap). Next spoon some of the filling mixture on top of the cheese and fold the tortilla wrap over itself to make a moon shape
- In a frying pan, heat the remainder of the olive oil and add the tacos. Fry each one cheese side down until golden brown, then flip and fry the other side. This will take no more than 5 minutes in total. Turn out onto a plate and serve immediately. Enjoy!