Pesto-Filled Quesadilla

That’s it on the ingredients, but trust me, three simple things make a huge difference when you bite into one!

Let me talk about the cheese. Upon a recent visit to my favorite supermercado, I scanned their cheese case, looking at all of the options. One cheese stood out, and that was El Tapatio Quesadilla. That just meant that this had to be the perfect cheese for making quesadillas, and indeed it was.

So begin by heating a small cast iron skillet on medium-low heat, as in my opinion this is a great skillet and can handle a great amount of heat. Lay the tortilla in the skillet, spread the pesto on the top half of the tortilla, and lay the cheese on the tortilla. As soon as you see the cheese begin to melt, take a spoon and fold over, gently pressing down on the tortilla. This will squeeze out some of the cheese, and to me, this is just as good as the entire quesadilla. The cheese will slowly seep out and begin to crisp up a bit, and to me, that is exciting. Let cook for a couple of minutes, then remove, letting cool for a few minutes.

When you are ready, serve as is, or slice on the diagonal.

Trust me when I say this: not only does the El Tapatio quesadilla make this thing shine, but the warm pesto and the outer burnt cheese just makes you want to make another, which I did. Enjoy!