Chicken Quesadillas
This is one of those all-too-rare recipes that look amazing, taste amazing, and yet involve very little time or effort in the kitchen. If you’re entertaining, it’s a showstopper of a starter… and it also makes a brilliant hangover-busting brunch the next day, either re-fried or made fresh from leftover filling.
Chicken Quesadillas
The recipe makes 4 folded quesadilla semi-circles. Fillings are infinitely customizable – use the below as a template. Keep flavours bright to cut through the cheese.
Ingredients
4 flour tortillas
200g cooked chopped chicken breast
150g grated cheddar/mozzarella
150g grated red leicester
30g minced brined jalapeno
2 or 3 tbsp minced coriander leaf
1 – 2 tbsp hot sauce, such as Frank’s RedHot
Oil
1. Mix quesadilla filling. Combine chicken, cheeses, jalapeno, coriander and hot sauce in a large mixing bowl. Mix thoroughly, adding more hot sauce as necessary until mixture clumps slightly under pressure, but is still fairly loose. Don’t be afraid of the hot sauce! The cheese will mellow it considerably.
2. Pack tortillas. Lay out a tortilla on a flat surface. Put quarter of the mix onto half the tortilla, spreading it fairly close to the edge. Fold the top of the tortilla over, and compress firmly, pressing a little around the edges as well. Repeat with remaining tortillas.
3. Fry. Pool a good quantity of oil on the surface of the Anvil on an area of medium-high heat and spread it out. Place the quesadillas in the hot oil. Keep moving them to promote even browning, checking the underside frequently. Flip when golden brown and blistered. Add more oil if the surface starts to look dry – plenty of oil is necessary for browning and efficient heat transfer to the inside of the quesadillas.
4. Salt and slice. Once browned on both sides, flip once more and sprinkle the top with salt. Remove from the Anvil. Cut each quesadilla into four triangles and serve while hot.
