So I’ve made my own tortillas, and I’ve settled on a cheese.  All I need to do now is pick some ingredients to put inside.  After some research, I’ve decided to go with a Chorizo and Potato filling.  My friends know my love of potatoes…but this is really a popular Mexican quesadilla filling!  Honest!  I’m making this recipe up as I go, so lets see how it turns out.

Ingredients:

2 medium potatoes

2 links of fresh Chorizo sausage, or even spicy Italian sausage

A sprig or two of fresh Rosemary (you can use dry, but you deserve fresh)

12 fresh tortillas (okay, you can use store-bought if you must)

Grated cheese, I’m using Extra Sharp Cheddar

Start by peeling the potatoes and quartering them so they cook faster.  Fill a pot with some cold water, set the burner to high, and throw in the potatoes.

While the potatoes are being boiled into submission, slice those links of sausage length-wise and remove the casings.  Break up the sausage into small chunks and brown them as you would ground beef.  Toss in a good pinch of Rosemary leaves, you don’t need many.  Rosemary and potatoes are buddies, so I thought it would work well.  When they are all crispy and delicious, set them aside.  I usually wrap them in a paper towel.  Try not to eat the sausage, you’ll need it later.

When you can easily stick a fork through the middle of the potatoes, they’re done.  You don’t want them to be cooked too thoroughly or they’ll just fall apart.  I run cold water into the pot to cool them down quickly so that they don’t overcook.  Then drain them and cut them into little blocks.  It wouldn’t be the end of the world to just mash them, but I liked the block idea.

Heat up your frying pan or skillet over medium heat.  If you’re using fresh tortillas, then medium-high might be better.  Place your first tortilla on the pan and sprinkle some cheese on it.  Then spoon some sausage and potato onto half of it.

You don’t want to load it up with topping, it’s not a taco. Fold the tortilla over the topping and give it a little press.

When the bottom is starting to brown, flip it over and brown the other side.  Once that happens you’re done…now do it eleven more times!  You can scale this recipe easily to make fewer quesadillas; just visualize how much of each ingredient will fit on the number you want to make.  I actually only made four!

These were definitely unusual with the potato filling, but I was very happy with them.  This recipe sated my appetite for a better quesadilla, and the biggest lesson was really to keep things fresh by changing up toppings.  There are endless combinations, and I hope you’ll try some of them!