Pork & Black Bean Quesadilla

1 Put onion in a medium-large frying pan (skillet) with 2 tablespoons olive oil and cook over medium heat to get cooking underway, then lower heat and cook gently until tender and golden. Tilt pan so that oil drains off onion. Transfer onion to a plate using a slotted spoon.

2 Reheat pan over a medium-high heat and when the oil is hot, add minced pork. Brown quickly, then flip, and break mince apart with a wooden spoon. Season with salt and cumin. Stir in black beans, tomatoes and chilli sauce and return onion to pan. Cook for 10 minutes, breaking up any large clumps, or until mixture has thickened and no longer looks watery. Add coriander.

3 Brush one side of a tortilla with olive oil. Turn it over and put spoonfuls of the pork and black bean filling on one half. Top with a few spinach leaves, then cheese and fold over to enclose the filling. Prepare a second tortilla.

4 Heat a clean medium-sized frying pan (skillet) over medium heat and put in the tortillas. Cook until browned, then carefully turn them over and cook until browned and the cheese has melted. Gently press down on the tortillas with a spatula as they cook.

5 Slide tortillas out of the pan onto a board and cut into wedges. Serve hot sprinkled with coriander, with sour cream, chilli sauce, and guacamole for dipping. Continue with the remaining ingredients.

Recipe Notes

While you can make a meal of quesadillas (a grilled tortilla filled with cheese and tasty bits), they’re a great snack food for a crowd. You can use pretty much the same fillings as you do in tacos. Traditionally, they contain cheese, but the rest is up to you (chopped olives, sliced mushrooms, shredded chicken, spinach leaves, coriander (cilantro), fried or caramelised onions, sautéed vgeteables …). If using meat sauce, reheat it hot before layering in the tortillas.

I’ve used flour tortillas in the recipe below. For corn tortillas, oil the tortilla and toast briefly in a hot frying pan, flipping often. Layer up the tortilla in the pan with chosen ingredients, making sure cheese doesn’t fall on the pan where it can burn. Cook gently for a few minutes until the cheese has started to melt (some cooks cover the pan to speed up the cheese melting). Fold the tortilla enclosing the filling. As soon as it is nicely browned (flip it over if you want it browner), transfer to a chopping board and cut into wedges.

Serve guacamole, sour cream and spicy sauces alongside for dipping. Guacamole