Quesadillas with mushrooms

(My entry for the letter “Q” for Nupur’s A-Z series is Quesadilla.)

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Quesadilla is one dish that I always seem to mispronounce. It’s an exotic Mexican dish that uses tortillas with some stuffing. The first time I ate this dish was in a beautiful Mexican restaurant named “Bahama Breeze”. I would give an A+ grade to the ambience and décor of this restaurant. Anyways, out of the three vegetarian dishes they had on the menu, quesadilla seemed very tempting. And tempting it turned out to be. Beautifully presented with a pasta salad and cream on the side, the tortilla and the stuffing inside it were delicious.

According to me, the most boring day of the week is Monday. Yesterday was another such boring Monday that forced us out of our lazy weekend. Anyways, to shrug off some part of the boring day, we decided to make something different from the regular chapatti-sabzi we have for dinner. Decision made, we went out and purchased a pack of tortillas. I found two types of tortillas in the store – wheat (flour) and corn. I chose the wheat tortillas. These can also be made at home. For the stuffing, I chose my favorite vegetable, which happens to be mushrooms.

Quesadillas with mushrooms

(Adapted from Madhur Jaffrey’s World Vegetarian)
Makes: 3 stuffed tortillas
Cooking level: Easy (1/5)
Preparation time: 1 hour

Ingredients
1.4 corn or wheat tortillas (I used wheat)
2.1 tbsp oil
3.1 medium onion – cut into very fine half rings
4.2-3 green chillies – finely chopped
5.2 garlic cloves – peeled and finely chopped
6.1 pack of white mushrooms – chopped into 1/8 inch thick slices
7.1 tbsp coriander leaves (cilantro) – finely chopped
8.Salt and pepper to taste

Making the stuffing
1.Heat oil in a pan set over medium heat. Add the green chillies and garlic cloves. Fry till the garlic turns light brown.
2.Add the onion rings and fry till the onion turns light brown.
3.Add the mushrooms, cilantro, salt, and pepper. Saute for 4 minutes or until there is no liquid left at the bottom of the pan.

Heating the tortillas
If you are using store-bought tortillas, heat them in the following manner:
1.Heat a pan. Place a tortilla and cook for 30 seconds.
2.Now, turn the tortilla and cook the other side for 30 seconds.
3.Repeat this process till few brown spots appear on the tortilla. Cook each tortilla for a total of 2 ½ minutes.
4.The tortillas should be crisp.

Assembling the quesadilla
1.Place a tortilla on a plate.
2.Spread a quarter of the mushroom filling over one half of the tortilla.
3.Fold the empty side over the filled side.
4.Fill all tortillas in this fashion.
5.Serve hot with sour cream or with a dollop of guacamole.


Verdict: We loved the stuffing and the crisp tortillas. However, 3 for 2 left us longing for more. Hubby made another tortilla with salsa and ranch as the stuffing. This too tasted great. You can use other combination of veggies in the tortilla or simply make a cheese filling.