What is a quesadilla?

Quesadillas (pronounced key-sah-dias)are a Spanish/Mexican dish that is loved all over the world and can have a huge array of fillings. Literally, quesadilla translates to ‘cheese-dude’ and whilst that doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, it certainly is cheesy typically consisting of melted cheese smothering other fillings in a folded, toasted tortilla wrap. Honestly, I’m not sure why they didn’t name it a ‘quesa-tilla’ instead. In this quesadilla recipe we will be filling with feta, Spinach, caramelised onions and a sprinkle of low fat cheddar to help it all stick together. This recipe makes 2 quesadillas at 476kcal each.

Do you have a restrictive diet?

This recipe is:

Vegetarian
Nut free
Low GI
Low Fat
Syn Free (when using healthy option A and B)
Ultra Processed Food Free

Ultra processed food free recipes are recipes that use ingredients where no additives have been used. This will include ingredients that can be made at home to be UPF free such as stock cubes, sauces and seasonings.

All slimming world related info is gathered from various internet sources. Syn values may be incorrect or outdated. If you see one is wrong, please let me know so I can update the information!

Step 1: Prepare the caramelised onions

Firstly to make caramelised onions for this quesadilla recipe, take an onion and finely chop it. Place it into a frying pan or wok and cook for 5-10 minutes until the onion is soft. Turn the heat down to the lowest setting. Add 3 tbsp of water and 3 tbsp of honey and mix into the onions well. Let the mixture simmer on a low heat until the water and honey has reduced and starts to glaze the onions. Stir the onions often to avoid the honey burning which can happen very suddenly. After 10 minutes the onions should be ready. Place them to one side until we are ready for them.

Step 2: Build your quesadilla

This quesadilla recipe is real easy! Firstly, grab a tortilla wrap. If you’d like to know how to make your own, head to my med-veg wrap recipe to find out how. Crumble your feta over one side of the tortilla wrap leaving a gap around the edge. When we toast the quesadilla the melted cheese will seal these edges and stop fillings from oozing out the sides. On top of the filling add a dusting of smoked paprika, salt and pepper. If you love spice then you could also add some cayenne pepper.

Next we will add our spinach. I have used frozen cooked spinach, I cook big batches of spinach and then fill an ice cube tray so whenever I need to add spinach to a dish its ready to go, I just need defrost as many as i need. In this case 3 inch square cubes. If you would prefer to use fresh spinach cook it first. Then regardless of whether your spinach is fresh or frozen you need to press as much of the water out of it as possible. If you skip this step your quesadillas will drip and make your filling very soggy! Place the spinach on top of your feta.

After this we finally add our yummy caramelised onions that we made earlier. If your onion was nice and small like mine then you will have the perfect amount for 2 quesadillas. Top this with a small sprinkle of low fat cheese and fold your quesadilla in half so that the side with no fillings covers the side that does.

Step 3: Heat the quesadilla

Heating up our quesadilla results in indulgent melting cheese and a crispy, crunchy tortilla to pair beautifully with the cheese. Heat up a frying pan large enough for the quesadilla and toast with no oil or water for 2-3 minutes a side until the cheese has melted. As I mentioned earlier the melting cheese should seal the quesadilla shut and not spill out of the sides but this technique does take a little practice. Cut each quesadilla into 4 triangles before serving.

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Variations:

Quesadillas come in so many variations, they’re a great opportunity to experiment with flavour and texture combinations. Why not try swapping the filling for:

Chorizo and red pepper
Sweet potato and feta
Smokey beans and cheese (check out my BBQ bean mix)
Chicken and mozzarella

Can I freeze or reheat quesadillas?

No, I would recommend preparing and eating quesadillas fresh for ultimate cheese pulling goodness.

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