Homemade Quesadillas

Quesadillas are pan-grilled, Mexican tortilla sandwiches, usually filled with cheese. Quesadillas can be made by wrapping a flour tortilla around a filling or sandwiching two tortillas together with filling ingredients inside. As simple as they are to prepare, the combination of ingredients is limited only to your imagination; experiment with a variety of different cheeses and chopped vegetables for the filling.

The base of a good quesadilla is the tortilla. You can find tortillas in a variety of flavors in your local supermarket. You can cook your quesadillas either on a stove top in a pan or over a grill. If you're serving them as an appetizer, one wedge per person will do, but if you're incorporating them into a meal, allow three to four wedges per person.

If you're making your quesadillas in advance, it's important to keep them well wrapped in either parchment paper or waxed paper in the refrigerator until you're ready to cook. The flour tortillas tend to dry out if they're exposed to air too long. Quesadillas make great additions to party menus, particularly since they can be "made to order" to your guests' likings and take very little time at all to cook. If you'd like, you can even arrange a quesadilla party: have a variety of flour tortillas on hand and place bowls of chopped vegetables, cheeses, fresh herbs and garnishes so that each guest can make his or her own personalized quesadilla.

Homemade Quesadillas Recipe

Makes Four 9-inch or Eight 7-inch Quesadillas

Ingredients:

• Flour Tortillas
• Fillings, such as pico de gallo (a traditional Mexican salsa of tomatoes, red onion and cilantro); guacamole; chopped tomatoes; sliced jalapenos; sliced scallions; chopped fresh herbs, such as coriander and basil; and grated cheeses, such as cheddar, Colby, and Monterey Jack
• Guacamole, for ganish (optional)
• Sour cream, for garnish (optional)

Preparation:

1. To assemble a quesadilla, place a tortilla on a round cutting board or plate, and sprinkle with a combination of desired fillings from list above; top with a second tortilla. Quesadillas can be assembled through this step a few hours ahead of time and stored, individually wrapped in parchment or waxed paper, in the refrigerator until ready to cook.
2. Cook over low heat in a heated, nonstick pan until the cheese has melted. Slide the quesadilla onto a round cutting board or plate; turn the cutting board over and return the quesadilla to the pan, uncooked side down. Remove quesadilla from the pan once both sides are golden brown.
3. Cut each quesadilla into wedges using kitchen scissors or a sharp knife. Garnish each piece with a teaspoon of guacamole and a bit of sour cream. Serve at once.

Homemade Quesadillas

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