Who doesn’t love a good old fashioned “Kay So Dilla”? Growing up, I didn’t even know that they really existed. Mexican food for me consisted of tacos, burritos, and fajitas. Or as my Mommon Joon would say Fuh Hee Ta. My experience with Mexican food was pretty much what I saw on t.v. through Taco Bell commercials. So yeah, I had no experience with Mexican food.
I’ve grown to love Mexican food or at least what is called Mexican food here. I’m sure the real experts will say that I have it all wrong, and you know what, they’re probably right. But I digress.
Today I have a Spanish Chorizo Quesadilla. This dish is insanely easy to make and really addicting.
The quesadilla itself is a product of colonial Mexico, the Spanish (see Conquistadors) brought pork and cheese over to Mexico and married them to the corn tortilla. From that the quesadilla was born, it has become a mainstay of Mexican food and it’s a popular street food. In central and southern Mexico, the quesadilla is typically made with a corn tortilla, while in other parts of Mexico, wheat/flour tortillas are used. The Americanized version of the quesadilla seems to be a tortilla grilled cheese on steroids, as you’ll find all sorts of different ingredients lodged inside the bread.
*Fun Fact, the spell check can’t stand the word quesadilla and thinks the most suitable replacement would be quadrille, gotta love robots!*
Chorizo is a word/ingredient thrown about all over the culinary world. I dare you to watch a cooking show/contest thing and have one episode where one chef doesn’t mention the use of chorizo. But what is it exactly? Chorizo is a sausage that originates in the Iberian Peninsula which is comprised of Spain, Portugal, France, and Andorra. Because of the wide reach of Spanish colonialism (see above) their cuisine spread all over to their colonies. Consequently, all of their past colonies or territories have their own variation of Chorizo.
Despite all the variations, the main components are similar, it’s typically always pork, pork, fat, smoked paprika, and salt. The end result is a sausage that is flavorful spicy sausage that has a bright reddish orange color. If the Chorizo is smoked you can eat it right away, if it’s raw then you have to cook it like you would any other sausage. Chorizo is always bursting with a spicy flavor that is perfect for a quesadilla. Recently I received some Spanish Chorizo from Carnivore Club so I made this dish on a whim because I was hungry.
Literally all you need to do is dice up some of your cured chorizo saute it a little bit then add it to your flour tortilla with some cheese and then cook the quesadilla in the pan that you cooked the chorizo in (that’s how the bread gets that orange color).
You’re going to love this and want to eat it all the time and I can’t blame you. It’s delicious.
Recipe- Spanish Chorizo Quesadilla
Ingredients
2 Ounces of Cured Spanish Chorizo
1 Medium Sized Flour Tortilla
1 Ounce of Monterrey Jack Cheese
1 Ounce of Cheddar Cheese
Method
Dice the chorizo and cook in a large frying pan. Cook for about 3 minutes, allow chorizo to crisp up (don’t overcook).
Remove meat from the pan, transfer to the tortilla, then add the cheese over the meat, fold over the tortilla.
Heat the pan with the excess oil from the chorizo once it begins to sizzle, add your quesadilla and press down on each side until each side is golden brown and the cheese begins to ooze out. Be careful not to burn the tortilla.
Cut in half, serve with some sour cream and enjoy!
- 2 Ounces of Cured Spanish Chorizo
- 1 Medium Sized Flour Tortilla
- 1 Ounce of Monterrey Jack Cheese
- 1 Ounce of Cheddar Cheese
- Dice the chorizo and cook in a large frying pan. Cook for about 3 minutes, allow chorizo to crisp up (don’t overcook).
- Remove meat from the pan, transfer to the tortilla, then add the cheese over the meat, fold over the tortilla.
- Heat the pan with the excess oil from the chorizo once it begins to sizzle, add your quesadilla and press down on each side until each side is golden brown and the cheese begins to ooze out. Be careful not to burn the tortilla.
- Cut in half, serve with some sour cream and enjoy!
