Pizza quesadillas

I can never decide whether Italian or Mexican is my favourite cuisine – so this time I thought I’d combine the two and make pizza quesadillas! Simple cheesy vegetable quesadillas, topped with tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese, and even more of my favourite pizza toppings. You get the satisfaction of pulling away that perfect cheesy slice, and the extra pleasure of two layers of cheese and veggies!

I’ve made Mexican/Italian fusion recipes before, but they usually involve an Italian-style dish given Mexican flavours (e.g. enchilada noodles!), so this time I thought I’d go for a Mexican-style dish that’s been made over with Italian ingredients.

Okay, so there’s barely any Mexican left in this recipe – it’s more like a double decker pizza, but when you’re talking about adding a second layer of cheese and toppings to an already cheesy pizza, who’s complaining?

In fact, I didn’t even cook my quesadillas in a frying pan – it’s much less effort to just pop them in the oven, plus the cheesy top gets nice and crispy. If you’d prefer to make your quesadillas on the stove top, just cook one side of a regular quesadilla over a medium-low heat until it’s crispy, flip it over, and then add the pizza-style toppings. You’ll probably need to put a lid on the pan to help the cheese on top get melty – and maybe even pop it under the grill for a minute or two to crisp it up.

Personally though, I think sticking it in the oven is much easier! And you know I’m all about easy, low-effort recipes.

I stuffed my pizza quesadillas with cheese and sliced mushrooms, and then topped the whole thing off with more mushrooms, sliced tomatoes, and black olives. But of course, there are no rules here – if you want to put all of the toppings inside the quesadilla so that the top can just be covered with crispy cheese, go for it! Or if you want all of your favourite toppings to be bursting out of your quesadilla from all directions, go ahead and stuff it right to the edges. The choice is yours.

And you don’t need to stick to mushrooms and olives, either. I’d recommend you go for toppings that don’t require any pre-cooking, but you can really use whatever pizza toppings you like.

Let me know your favourite combinations! There must be someone here who likes something really weird on their pizza (and their pizza quesadillas)?

Print

Pizza quesadillas

Prep Time: 10 mins

Cook Time: 20 mins

Total Time: 30 mins

Servings: 2

Ingredients

• 2 large flour tortillas
• 150 g grated cheese (~ 1 1/4 cups) - I used a mixture of mozzarella and cheddar
• 1 portobello mushroom (or a couple of smaller mushrooms), sliced
• 3 tbsp pizza sauce
• 1 medium tomato, sliced
• 2 tbsp sliced black olives
• Black pepper
• Fresh basil, to serve (optional)

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 200°C (Gas Mark 6 / 400°F).
• Place one of the tortillas on a baking tray, and sprinkle over around half of the grated cheese. Add a few slices of mushroom, and then place the second tortilla on top.
• Spread the tomato sauce over the second tortilla, sprinkle over the remaining cheese, and add the remaining mushroom slices, sliced tomato, and black olives. Finish with some black pepper, and bake for around 15-20 minutes, until the tortillas are crispy and the cheese is golden brown.
• Serve topped with fresh basil leaves, if desired.

Course: Main meal

Author: Becca Heyes

Note: nutritional information is approximate, and will depend on exactly what ingredients you choose.

Love pizza but don’t want the guilt? Try my low-carb pizza frittata!