Have I mentioned lately how much I love goat cheese? It’s just so creamy and delicious. If you haven’t tried my goat cheese pasta with zucchini yet, get on it. It’s super easy to make and just ridiculously good.
About a week ago, J and I headed over to some friends’ house for dinner and a little book club discussion. We had been reading The Glass Castle as couples, which is a fascinating memior about a woman’s unusual childhood — I highly recommend it — and I had offered to make dinner for our gathering. Because we were making dinner over at their house instead of at ours (another story altogether) I wanted to keep dinner simple. Quesadillas and a southwestern chopped salad seemed like the perfect choice.
I honestly didn’t think that I could be uber impressed by a quesadilla recipe but these were amazing! Bobby Flay wins again! So creamy with lots of veggies and the sauce… a nice smoky addition. I think these will go straight into our monthly rotation.
Quesadillas (for 4)
• 8 flour tortillas
• 3/4 C (3 oz.) grated Monterey Jack Cheese
• 3/4 C (3 oz.) white cheddar cheese
• 4 oz goat cheese crumbled (I bought a log since it was cheaper and just put dabs of the goat cheese in the quasadilla)
• 1 C sweet yellow onion, cut into thin rings
• 1 zucchini cut into matchstick size pieces
• 1 cup fresh corn kernels (could be from frozen, canned or corn on the cob… just cook to warm)
• kosher sea salt and black pepper, to taste
• 3-4 T olive oil
1. Heat a pan over medium heat and add a tablespoon of oil. Add the onions and cook until transparent and lightly brown. Set aside.
2. Heat a grill OR a large pan to medium.
3. On a work surface, place 8 of your tortillas. Brush the outside lightly with oil and set oil side down. Add to one half of each tortilla (leaving the other side clear to fold over) a couple of tablespoons of jack, cheddar and goat cheese, grilled onions, corn and zucchini. Season lightly with salt and pepper and fold in half.
4. Cook on the grill or in a pan a few minutes on each side until the tortilla is barely golden and the cheese is melted. Cut into wedges and serve with salsa and smoky chile cream sauce.
Smoky Chili Cream
• 1/2 C Sour cream
• 1 tsp chipotle chile puree (take one can of chipotle chilis in adobo sauce — found in the Mexican food section of the grocer — and pour into your blender or food processor. Pulse until pureed)
In a bowl, whisk together sour cream and chipotle puree. Add more or less chipotle for more or less heat. This can be made up to 1 day in advance and kept in the fridge in an airtight container.
Adapted from Bobby Flay’s
vivagood 