If there’s one food item that’s been a constant in my life, it’s the quesadilla. Even though (sadly) I didn’t grow up in house where Mexican food was always on the stove, my mom was far more likely to throw a tortilla with cheese on the comal than, say, a cheese sandwich.
As a kid, I only had love for flour tortilla quesadillas, but these days, I’m all about the corn. The truth is, when you’re talking store-bought tortillas, corn is generally superior in taste and quality to flour. Plus, you can do a lot more to enhance the flavor of packaged corn tortillas—those flour disks that the Guerreros, Romeros, or (god help us) Mission make cannot be saved.
The perfect quesadilla isn’t as easy as it seems. You can’t just slap the ingredients together and expect a miracle. For the little golden-brown quesadillas yousee here, I brushed a bit of olive oil on the outside of one side of the tortilla. I then filled them with sharp cheddar because I like the way the edges get crispy and crunchy when they hit the griddle—a lot of people prefer Queso Quesadilla, a mild Mexican cheese that melts like a dream and can be purchased in most grocery stores. I then folded the tortillas over (oil side out) and kept flipping until both sides were brown and crispy-crunchy.
I sometimes add sautéed mushrooms, spinach or squash, but there’s definitely something great about a plain ol’ cheese. Some guacamole doesn’t hurt, though.
–Valentina
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Is the tortilla there like that of a taco dorado or is it the lighting? Either way, looks money!
@hungry trojan: Yes, it gets like that if you brush it with a little olive oil first. If you just use a little and cook it on medium heat for awhile, you can achieve the crispy tortilla but avoid overwhelming oiliness.
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