Baked Cheese Quesadillas
We vary our cheese quesadilla recipe - to allow for less clean-up and less oil - by baking tortillas filled with cheese. This makes a wonderful addition to any latin meal, or a nice lunch with a soup or salad. Originally served as part of: Cheese Quesadillas and Turkey Mole.
- Cheese Quesadillas (February 7, 2002)
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon canola oil (divided)
- 8 corn tortillas
- 1 cup mix of monterey jack and cheddar cheese (freshly grated, divided)
- Picante salsa (Pace)
Instructions
We begin by pre-heating the oven to 425°. We cover a sheet pan with foil, for easy cleanup. We pour on half of the oil.
We prepare four of the tortillas by quickly placing them into the oil to coat one side (we could have also used a pastry brush). We reserve each on a large plate, oil-side-up.
We pour the rest of the oil onto the foil and spread out to coat an area large enough for the four quesadillas. We place the rest of the tortillas on the oil-covered sheet pan and rub around to coat the bottom with the oil. We spread on 2-3 tablespoons of the cheese mixture and top with the reserved tortillas, oil side up. We reserve the remaining cheese for the topping of the baked quesadillas. We place the pan in the pre-heated oven.
We cook for about 5 minutes. We want the bottom tortilla to start to brown. We carefully flip over with a spatula and return the sheet pan to the oven. We cook for another 5 minutes or so until the tortillas are crispy and the cheese is melted.
We serve the quesadillas with salsa and the extra cheese.
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp canola oil (divided)
- 8 corn tortillas
- 1 cup Monterey Jack and cheddar (freshly grated, divided)
- picante salsa (Pace)
Instructions
What's a kid job?
A Kid job is a step kids can help with, with a grown-up nearby, not one they do on their own. Every kid is different, so go by what your child can do rather than by age. Roughly:
- Little ones (about 2 to 4) can stir, pour in ingredients a grown-up has measured, tear lettuce, wash vegetables and sprinkle toppings.
- Older kids (about 5 to 8) can also measure and level, crack eggs, whisk, roll and cut out dough, and put things together.
- Bigger kids can read the recipe aloud, keep track of the timer, and take on more of the cooking as they're ready.
Steps with a knife, microplane, skewers, stove, oven, grill or hot oil, or with raw meat, poultry or seafood, are marked Grown-up. Kids can still watch those, from a safe distance.
Heat the oven to 425°F. Line a sheet pan with foil and pour on half the oil. Dip one side of 4 tortillas in the oil and set them aside, oiled side up.
Kid job
Spread the rest of the oil on the foil and rub the other 4 tortillas around in it. Top each with 2 to 3 tablespoons of cheese and one of the set-aside tortillas, oiled side up. Save the rest of the cheese.
Grown-up
Bake about 5 minutes, until the bottoms start to brown. Carefully flip them with a spatula and bake about 5 minutes more, until crisp and melted.
Serve with salsa and the extra cheese.