Mexican Quesadillas

Chef-owner Mariana shares a traditional Mexican recipe that’s the epitome of Mexican comfort food.

By Mariana Villalobos

Mexican food in my country is very diverse. There is a great variety of cultures and communities within the country; this is why each region's food has different textures, flavors, and scents.

Corn was the main ingredient of Mexican cooking and today remains one of the three components of the Mexican Holy Trinity, the other two being pinto beans and chilies.

Traditional cuisine is a comprehensive cultural model comprising farming, ritual practices, age-old skills, culinary techniques, and ancestral community customs and manners. It is made possible by collective participation in the entire traditional food chain: from planting and harvesting to cooking and eating.

Today we want to share with you a recipe that I consider the epitome of comfort food!

Quesadillas are the core of our most important and diversely interpreted dishes, you can find them in everyone's home as well as most of the street food venues.

A dish we all deeply cherish, but most importantly a representation of who we are today as a country.

So let's do quesadillas the traditional way, from scratch. Doing your fresh tortillas has a strong impact on the flavor of this simple dish. Yet is simplicity what makes it so unique.

Quesadilla de Flor de Calabaza y Salsa Verde

SERVES 4, PREP 45 MIN

INGREDIENTS

For each Quesadilla

Tortilla 25g,
Cheese 15g,
Zucchini flower 1 

UTENSILS

Knife
Chopping board
Grill pan
Blender
Tortilla press, rolling pin, or bottle of wine ;)

For the Tortillas

Corn Masa Harina 150g ,
Water 180g
Salt 1g

Tortilla

1. In a big mixing bowl, mix the cornflour and salt.
2.Add the 180ml of water slowly while mixing to start integrating all the ingredients.
3.Once the mixture is coming together, start to mix from the outside to the inside squeezing the dough to integrate the ingredient fully, until you have a smooth, hydrated but not sticky dough.
4. Proceed to make the tortillas. 25g per ball is the ideal size. In a little ball that we will flatten before putting in a very hot pan and topping them with the cheese and zucchini flower.

Tip: You can use coriander seeds, cumin, turmeric, or any other seasoning powers to give your tortillas a special touch!

For the Salsa Verde Cruda

Onion 80g,
Jalapeno 55g,
Green long chili 50g,
Coriander 30g
Lime juice 30g
Salt 3g

Salsa Verde Cruda

1. Wash the vegetables.
2. Peel the onion and cut it into 4 big chunks.
3. Take off the chilies stalk and cut them in half.
4. Now throw all the ingredients in the blender and mix. You want it to be a homogenous mix but still with some texture. This Salsa is not the smooth kind.

Tip: For those who are not very familiar with chili but still wanting to do the salsa, I recommend blending chilies without the seeds!

Assembly

1. Once all of our ingredients are ready we can now carefully wash the zucchini flower and remove the external branches and the pistil.
2. Heat a thin pan and get it really hot.
3. On the very hot pan we start cooking our tortillas, here the thing is to be patient. Make sure you turn your tortilla only when the corners of it start to lift from the pan, not before, otherwise they’ll break.
4. Once the tortilla is turned we can now top it with the cheese first and then the zucchini flower.
5. Season with salt and pepper and close by folding it in two.
6. Turn it one last time and once the cheese is fully melted, it's ready!
7. Open it to put some of the green salsa in it and Bon appétit!

Images courtesy of the author

About the Author

Chef-Owner of La Cocina Tacos & Ceviche Bar, Mariana Villalobos is passionate about creating distinctive Mexican food. Behind her, Mariana launched La Cocina in 2019 to share a fresh twist on Mexico’s traditional recipes. Find us in: IG: @lacocinabkk FB: La Cocina - Tacos & Ceviche Bar

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