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Caprese Quesadilla

June 16, 2010

Among the foods that are easy sells in our house, cheese, tomatoes and tortillas all rank high in the top ten. Summer is here and between the juicy heirloom tomatoes now appearing all over our local farmer's market (so sweet they taste like candy) and the aromatic, fresh basil growing like a weed in our garden, that can only mean one thing: Caprese Quesadillas are going to be in heavy mealtime rotation!

I love a caprese sandwich, which is mozzarella, tomato, basil and just a dash of olive oil, normally on Italian bread. For kids though, caprese sandwiches can be tough to eat because the mozzarella tends to fall out, making the whole sandwich eating thing somewhat frustrating. But that's no reason to deprive your kids of great Caprese. By simply substituting tortillas for the bread and adding a little heat to melt the cheese, you've got the great taste of caprese in an easy-to-hold, kid-friendly format. It's a blend of two great cuisines that come together beautifully.

Caprese Quesadilla  (Serves 4)

  • Prep Time:1 minutes,
  • Cook Time: 6 minutes,
  • Total Time: 7 minutes,

Ingredients

  • 4 tortillas (i like to use whole wheat or spelt tortillas)
  • 1 large tomato, thinly sliced
  • 1 cup mozzarella cheese, grated
  • 4 6 fresh basil leaves, julienned

Preparation

  1. 1. Place one tortilla in a dry pan over medium heat ( I use a cast iron skillet).
  2. 2. Sprinkle 1/4 cup of cheese over tortilla and place half (about 4 or 5) tomato slices over cheese.
  3. 3. Sprinkle another 1/4 cup of cheese over tomato slices followed by half of the julienned basil leaves.
  4. 4. Top with another tortilla and heat through, about 3 minutes on each side or until cheese is melted and tortilla is slightly toasted.
  5. 5. Repeat for the second quesadilla.
  6. 6. Cut into wedges and serve.

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Comments






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  2. Lauren

    July 3, 2010 at 1:33 pm

    Yum!! I just made this for my husband and son (17 mo) for lunch and they loved it! I used spinach tortillas and it was such a pretty lunch. Thanks!!

  3. Sara

    June 17, 2010 at 10:00 pm

    Oh my goodness…I think I have found my new favorite food. I am a college student and love this site because it has individual portions, so I can cook up a batch and then freeze everything else for another day. This website is the sole reason that I cook now, everything is so easy and healthy, which is important because I recently have developed issues with all the chemicals in the foods we eat. I cooked this up last night and had 1/2 for lunch and 1/2 for dinner. At lunch it was still cold from being in the fridge, but still tasted great!
    Thanks for all the work you do to get good, easy, and healthy recipies out there.

  4. Caitlin

    June 17, 2010 at 10:06 am

    I saw your post with this recipe yesterday and ran to the store after work to make these for dinner. They were a big hit with my whole family (1 year old, 10 year old, and Hubby). Loved them! Thanks for the great ideas!

  5. Jojo

    June 16, 2010 at 3:59 pm

    how adding some pesto instead of basil leaves? my daughter has leafy issues… :) do you think it might get too greasy to pack for lunch?

    • catherine

      June 18, 2010 at 1:25 pm

      I would add just a thin layer of pesto since it has so much flavor than just the basil leaves. But i’m sure it would work! Let me know how she likes it!

  6. Dina

    June 16, 2010 at 10:41 am

    Looks delish! Catherine, I notice you pack a lot of quesadillas and paninis for Kenya’s lunch. Do you make them in the morning, and then serve them cold for school lunch?

    • catherine

      June 16, 2010 at 2:46 pm

      I make them before they go to school and they eat them at room temperature, he likes his food at room temperature so we have no problem.