Grilled Vidalia Onion and Mushroom Quesadillas
The other Friday night I was craving something easy, cheesy and grilled. I happened to have Vidalia onions and shiitake mushrooms so I came up with this recipe for grilled quesadillas. This really can be made with any kind of onions and your favorite mushrooms, and you can be creative with the cheese as well. I happened to have Pepper Jack so ended up using it.
Normally quesadillas are done by holding a tortilla in half with the fillings inside. However, I have noticed that they are easier to grill if you use two tortillas and add the filling on one, cover with the other and then you just need to flip them on the grill.
This recipe makes either 4 quesadillas (with two tortillas each) or 8 traditional tortillas and will easily serve four as a main course. Just add your favorite quesadilla toppings, I used some salsa and sour cream, and a nice green salad.
INGREDIENTS:
1 tbsp olive oil
1 small Vidalia onion (or half of a big one) halved and thinly sliced
8 oz shiitake mushrooms sliced
bunch of chives cut to pieces
1/4 tsp dried thyme (or 1/2 tsp fresh)
1/4 tsp smoked paprika
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
8 flour tortillas (8”)
5 oc shredded Pepper Jack cheese
Cilantro
STEPS:
Heat the olive oil in a non-stick pan
Add the onion and saute until translucent, about 3 minutes. Add the mushrooms to the onions and saute until the onions are slightly caramelized and mushrooms are cooked.
Add thyme, smoked paprika, salt and pepper and stir. Taste the mixture and add spices if desired. Lastly add chive pieces
Set four tortillas on a flat surface, sprinkle with half the cheese, then divide the onion-mushroom mixture evenly to all four. Sprinkle with the rest of the cheese and cover with the remaining tortillas.
Grill the tortillas at a medium setting flipping them once and gently pushing them flat until the cheese has melted and the tortillas have nice grill marks
Garnish with cilantro and serve with your favorite quesadilla toppings.