Cheesy Mushroom Quesadillas

Fresh quality ingredients + a pinch of love will always result in a tasty dish.

This is taking quesadillas to another flavor profile, specially if you have never tried Buffalo or Ostrich (they are both super delicious besides being high in protein content). The mushrooms and lime crema brings this dish together. For Vegans you may substitute the meat for eggplant and use vegan sour cream. For those 21 and over, this pairs well with a glass of Zinfandel (shown bellow: 2019 Coppola Directors Cut) or if in the mood to realy step it up a Di Giovanna, Nerello Mascalese. It has great acidity and lots of rose petal, red fruit, white pepper and smoke, fine chalky tannins.

Note: Easy to follow links have been to added to certain ingredients not commonly found. Also links to the wines and evo have been added as the wine(s) mentioned are actually paired by a winery in Sicily and not found in the states. For quality ingredients that you can have delivered right to your front door, go to Amazon Fresh - follow this link or Amazon Whole Foods Market .

Serves: 4

Di Giovanna - Nerello Mascales

Prep Time: 10 min

Cook Time: 35 min

Ingredients:

Sautéed Mushrooms and Onions

2 (8 oz.) white mushrooms

12 (medium sized) corn tortillas

4 oz. shredded pepper jack

Salt and Pepper to taste

Meat filling

20 oz. Buffalo or Ostrich ground beef (or your favorite protein)

2 tsp. dried oregano leaves

Pinch crushed red pepper flakes

1 tsp. ground cumin

4 garlic cloves, crushed (or 2 tsp. garlic paste)

1/4 cup of red drinking wine

salt and pepper to taste.

Lime Crema

1 lemon

4 oz. of sour cream (or use almond milk for vegan substitution)

Pico de Gallo

1 jalapeno

2 roma tomatoes

3 sprigs of fresh cilantro + 1 for (for garnish)

1 limes juiced

1/4 cup of diced yellow onions

Cooking Steps

Prep all the Vegetables

• Wipe with a damp paper towel the mushrooms. Wash the jalapeno, tomatoes and limes. Thinly slice the mushrooms and place aside. Zest one of the limes, and quarter them to juice them later. Thinly slice the onions; chop the tomatoes and finely chop the jalapeno. Place the chopped tomatoes and jalapenos in a small bowl. If you prefer more heat, leave some of the seeds and the ribs.

Pico de Gallo

• Take your bowl with the tomato and jalapeno and add the juice of the remaining limes. Season with salt and pepper. Stir until well combined. You can also add some chopped cilantro in this step if you like to step up your pico de gallo.

• Cover and place it in fridge until ready to serve.

Lime Crema

• Combine the sour cream, lime zest and a squeeze of the lime juice to a small bowl. Mix until well combined. Start adding a teaspoon of water at a time while stirring to get a drizzling consistency. Season your crema with salt and pepper to taste.

Meat filling

• Heat up medium sized skillet to medium-high, with a drizzle of avocado oil (or your favorite cooking oil). Add pepper flakes and sauté for 1 min, add the onions and sauté until translucent, then add meat and rest of ingredients under meat filling section. Cook for 10 minutes, making sure to mix and breakup the meat so its not clumped together. After 10 minutes, remove from heat and place a lid so heat doesn't escape.

Sautéed Mushrooms and Onions

• Place about 1 tbsp. of avocado oil (or your favorite cooking oil) into a skillet and heat over medium-high heat. Once pan is hot, add the sliced mushrooms and season with a pinch of salt and pepper. Cook until the mushrooms are browned. Depending on your stove, you may need to lower the temperature to medium. Transfer to a plate for plating later.

• Using the same pan to you used to cook the mushrooms, add a drizzle of avocado oil and cook all the onions, except 1/4 cup that you will use to make the pico de gallo later. Make sure you season with salt and pepper. You want to cook until they are translucent and lightly browned, about 10 min. Transfer to the plate with the mushrooms and set aside for plating later.

To plate

1. Take a tortilla and evenly sprinkle some of the cheese, mushroom, caramelized onions, meat and a little more cheese before folding in half to create the quesadilla. Using the same pan where you cooked the mushrooms and onions, drizzle with some oil and place the quesadillas to brown and the cheese melts, or about 3-5 minutes depending on the stove. Cut into wedges, top with pico de gallo, lime crema and garnish with cilantro.

2. Serve and enjoy.