Quesadilla Stacks
Well, this is getting posted a little later than I
had hoped for but you’ll have to forgive me – it’s been a hectic few
weeks. You have no choice anyway really, I’ve taken the fact you’ve got
this far to assume that forgiveness has been granted.
We’ve had a bit of mixed bag weather wise for the
past month, and I managed to get “struck down” (very OTT description)
with the cold and flu like symptoms that were flying round. That has
driven me to generally spicier food (which didnt help the already runny nose) but nothing too ridiculous. I
actually had some time to meal plan this month too, which means I did
have the odd repetitive (but healthy) meal including about 4 days of chilli with just about every side dish going. That very
same week, I needed a veggie day immediately after to take a break from the spicy red
meat ragu I'd become overly accustom to.
In 2017 I had one veggie day a week, and I’ve
upped that to 2 days a week this year. It’s forced creativity with my
recipes which by no means a bad thing, and this recipe is one I love
returning to for some wholesome and fresh tasting grub (which in this
instance can also be made gluten free): Quesadilla Stacks!
So what do you need?
Core components:
- 6 pack of (gluten free, if you fancy) tortilla style wraps
- Grated cheese (light cheddar preferably)
For the Salsa:
- A 200g pack of plum or tomatoes (quartered)
- 1 red onion (finely chopped)
- Fresh coriander (to taste)
- A squeeze of lime juice
For the spicy guacamole:
- 2 small or one large avocado
- Fresh coriander (to taste)
- 2 birds eye chillies (chopped)
- A squeeze of lime juice
For the bean pâté:
- 1 tin of borlotti or pinto beans (washed and drained)
- Fresh coriander (to taste)
- A squeeze of lime juice
First thing you will want to do is turn the oven
to 180 Celsius for baking the tower once you’ve cooked it, and that can
warm up whilst you do the food prep.
The prep couldn’t be easier; it’s a case of
mixing each bowl’s ingredients together (albeit more of a mashing
technique required for the guacamole and pâté!). Once the prep is done,
it’s a case of building it in a large pan. Each of the bowl’s now mixed
ingredients will become a wrap separated layer within the tower – but
fused together with nature’s glue, the grated cheese. Wrap, cheese,
filler, cheese and repeat. Easy!
You'll need to spread them evenly, about 0.5cm thick per tier. What you don't use in those layers can be served on the side or saved for another meal.
My guidance is to order the layers as follows –
pâté, guacamole, salsa, guacamole, pâté. That way any moisture (which is
more likely from the middle layers) aren’t going to give you a soggy
base as you cook.
Cook the tower on a medium heat for about 2
minutes before using a dinner plate to help you “flip” the tower and
cook the other side. I would guess that it’ll take about 3 or 4 turns on
each side to give you a nice golden colour to the outer wraps. Once you
have that finish you can transfer to a baking tray and pop that into
the now pre-heated oven for about 8-10 minutes. This will hopefully help
the cheese that’s had less heat exposure in the pan to melt and allow
for those layers to further “glue” together.
Once out you can plate up and serve in slices as
wide as you like. I love the hints of spice paired with the ever-present
freshness of coriander and lime juice. Plus that’s plenty of food for
one or two people to enjoy, so it can serve as a great lunchtime snack
the next day too!
I’m confident you could get creative with
substitutions to the various layers, so would welcome to hear what works
(and doesn’t!) should you try it yourselves.
Happy cooking x
