Arrriba! Who doesn’t go mad over Classic Mexican and Tex-Mex beef n cheese quesadillas? These are so good, crunchy on the outside, and bursting with chilli beef and cheese on the inside, Small and compact, they make a great sharer, starter or main course, what I can say is, you won't end up with any left!
I usually serve mine as a starter or part of some snacking food if we have friends around, but I always serve the Quesadillas with hot sauce, and in this case, I'm using Franks Fire Roasted Jalapeno craft hot sauce, which I have to say works very well.
Another little note on this recipe is that you really do need to use corn tortillas, not only is this traditional they cook a lot better and crisp up properly. You can find these in the Mexican section of your supermarket.
Ingredients (Makes 8 Quesadillas which will give you 16 individual pieces):
500g Lean Steak Mince
Good quality sharp Cheddar Cheese (grated)
1 x Large Onion
2 x Garlic Cloves
2 x tbsp Tomato Puree
1 x tsp Dried Oregano
2 x tsp Cumin Powder
2 x tsp Paprika
1/2 tsp Cayenne Pepper
1 x tsp Onion Powder
1 x tsp Garlic Powder
1/2 x tsp Dried Chillies
8 x Corn Tortillas
Rock Salt / Black Pepper
Method:
First, let's assemble our dry spice mix, grab your spices/herbs and mix together the following into a small pot, which we will use later:
1 x tsp Dried Oregano
2 x tsp Cumin Powder
2 x tsp Paprika
1/2 tsp Cayenne Pepper
1 x tsp Onion Powder
1 x tsp Garlic Powder
1/2 x tsp Dried Chillies
Take your beef mince out of the fridge to allow it to come up to room temperature. Finely chop your onion and garlic cloves set these to one side, heat some olive oil in a large skillet or frying pan and add your beef mince. Cook this out properly until all the water has evaporated and the mince is starting to singe and colour.
Drain any excess fat from the mince and set aside, and turn your oven to 160c. Using the same pan/skillet add a little more olive oil and then on a low/medium heat fry your onions and garlic for 8-10 mins until soft. Turn the heat up a little and add your tomato puree, cooking this out for 2 minutes, then add your dry spice/herb mix. Cook this out for a minute and add 200ml of water, and a good splash of Franks Fire Roasted Jalapeno craft hot sauce, and season well with rock salt and black pepper and some more Dried Oregano and add back your drained beef.
Bring to a simmer, pop on a lid and put into the preheated oven at 160c for 25-30 mins until the Mexican chilli has thickened up nicely, check for seasoning and adjust as necessary. Now we are ready to assemble!
To assemble, take a frying pan and pop it onto the hob to heat up, we are not going to add any oil to cook the Quesadillas, we just need a dry hot pan.
Take your corn tortillas and on one side add a layer of grated cheddar cheese, then your Mexican chilli beef and then some more cheese, this helps it to seal and acts a little bit like glue. Don't overfill your Quesadillas, you don't want to go beyond the halfway mark on the Tortilla, or heap them up too much.
To cook fold over and press down the edges to crimp. Heat in a dry frying pan on a medium, heat, flipping on the folded edge every 2 mins for 4-6 mins until golden. Take off the heat and slice in half, and serve immediately with more Franks Fire Roasted Jalapeno craft hot sauce, a sprinkle of chopped coriander works well as a nice fresh garnish and maybe a finely sliced fresh green or red chilli.
