Quesadillas

One corn tortilla folded over cheese on a dry comal, cooked until the fold will hold itself shut.

Not vegetarian — contains mozzarella whose rennet the source does not name.

Ingredients

• 8 corn tortillas, as on their own page
• 300 g Oaxaca cheese, or mozzarella, pulled into strands
• a few leaves of epazote (optional)
• salsa verde, as on its own page, to serve

Method

1. ONE TORTILLA, FOLDED, ON A DRY COMAL -- and the test is that the fold holds itself shut. The cheese goes on one half of a warm tortilla, the other half comes over, and it is pressed flat with a spatula. As the cheese melts it glues the two halves together, and a quesadilla that can be picked up by one corner without falling open is done. One that gapes has been taken off too early.
2. THE PAN IS DRY AND THE CHEESE IS THE ONLY FAT. No oil, no butter. The tortilla dries and freckles against the iron, which is exactly what it did when it was made, and the melted cheese provides whatever richness the thing needs. Fried in oil it goes greasy and slides apart instead of sealing.
3. THE CHEESE IS PULLED INTO STRANDS AND NOT GRATED. Oaxaca cheese comes as a wound ball and unwinds into long threads; pulled apart by hand they lie loosely and melt evenly across the whole half. Grated, it packs into a dense layer with a cold spot in the middle, and what melts runs out of the open edge in one stream.
4. IT IS COOKED SLOWLY ON A MODERATE HEAT. The cheese has to melt right through before the tortilla burns, and on a fierce pan the outside is black while the middle is still a solid lump. Three or four minutes a side on a medium heat, pressed down now and then.
5. THE FOLD FACES THE COOK AND THE OPEN EDGE FACES AWAY, which sounds fussy and saves the pan. Whatever escapes runs out of the open edge, and on the far side of the pan it lands where it can be scraped up rather than under the next one.
6. A griddle or heavy pan set over a medium heat, DRY.
7. A tortilla laid on and warmed 20 seconds a side, until flexible.
8. The cheese PULLED INTO STRANDS by hand and laid loosely over one half, with a leaf or two of epazote if using.
9. The other half FOLDED OVER and pressed flat with a spatula.
10. Cooked 3 to 4 MINUTES, pressed down once or twice, until freckled underneath.
11. TURNED, the open edge away from the cook, and given another 3 to 4 minutes.
12. TESTED by lifting one corner: the fold should HOLD ITSELF SHUT and the cheese inside should be completely molten. If it gapes, another minute a side.
13. Taken off, left 1 minute to firm, and cut in half across the fold.
14. Served with salsa verde. The next one started while this is eaten; they are no good reheated.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under Mexico · All recipes