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Chicken Quesadillas

Introduction & method

Quesadillas should be really easy - just cheese and other fillings fried or grilled inside a flour or corn tortilla - but getting the cheese melted at the same time as the tortilla is golden takes a bit of practice. Worth it though!

Chicken Quesadillas Recipe

About the Cheese


You don't have to stick to the cheeses I've listed here: use whatever is available to you as long as you have a combination of strongly-flavoured and stretchy melty cheeses.

Prep


Slice the chicken breasts horizontally. Open them out and sandwich them in cling film. Bash them with a rolling pin until they are evenly flat. Cut the peppers into thin strips and the onion into half moons. Grate the cheese - tip: a retro egg-slicer works wonderfully on a ball of mozzarella.

Pre-cook the Chicken and Veggies


Melt a little oil and butter in a frying pan. Sauté the onion for about 5 minutes, until softened, then add the pepper and cook for 2-3 minutes more. Remove the onion and peppers from the pan. Season the flattened chicken with ground black pepper, smoked paprika and cayenne pepper. Sauté the chicken for 2-3 minutes. Season the top side as before and squirt a generous amount of lime juice on it. Turn it over and cook for another 2-3 minutes. Remove the chicken from the pan and slice it on the diagonal.

Make the Quesadillas


Sprinkle grated cheese evenly across the lower half of one tortilla. Cover that with a layer of onion and pepper mix, chicken and then sprinkle more cheese. Fold the tortilla in half and press down the edges. Melt a small amount of butter in the pan, add two folded tortillas back to back and cook them for 2-3 minutes until the tortilla is golden. Turn it over and cook the other side. Cut each tortilla into two or three wedges. Mmmm.



The video above is from the Keef Cooks YouTube channel. Click here to see the video recipe of Chicken Quesadillas on YouTube.

 

Ingredients & Info



 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
 1 medium onion
 1 small red bell pepper
 1 small green bell pepper
 200 grams mature cheddar or monterey jack
 100 grams mozzarella
 60 grams grana padano or parmesan
 half a tsp cayenne pepper
 half a tsp smoked paprika
  salt and pepper to taste
 1 tbsp lime juice

UNITS:
Metric
US Customary/Imperial

Makes 4 quesadillas
Prep time: 10 minutes.
Cooking time: 15 minutes.
Total time: 25 minutes.