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)?
Pizza quesadillas
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.
Note: nutritional information is approximate, and will depend on exactly what ingredients you choose.
What a great idea! I’ve always had my Italian and Mexican dishes very separated :P But now I made this and it’s sooooo delicious! Thank you!
Why keep two amazing things separate when they’re even better together? ;)
Pizza quesadillas… yum! Seriously, I’m drooling here. If I’m not headed to casino right now, I would have looked for a place serving this food. Afterwards it is then..
I love this recipe, Becca! Your Pizza Quesadillas look so good!
How amazing do these look! I love quesadillas and I love pizza so a definite winner from me
oh, oh my goodness gracious me yes PLEASE!!!!
Totally love the fusion!
Haha! My first thought was doesn’t Becca know what a quesdilla is (then I read on)? My second thought was OMG all that fat and calories. My third thought was I’d like a slice now please. Stumbled, pinned, tweeted and drooled.
Haha it’s only 344 calories for half! Not the worst thing I’ve ever eaten by a long way ;)
I’m more than happy to sacrifice those calories, it looks so good, well apart from the olives, I don’t like them as much as I try to.
I never used to like olives but when I got to about 20 they suddenly became my favourite thing ever, especially the little black ones. Yum :)
I think it may be the texture. I do keep trying them. I am every hopeful, but no.
What has my life been missing up to this point? APPARENTLY THESE.
I never say no to anything with two layers of cheese.
Yummy! Fantastic recipe that I can’t wait to try :)
Happy Blogging!
Oh my days Becca! This is a genius idea!! Why have I never thought of doing this?! I know this would make my hubby so happy, he loves both pizza and Mexican food! Thanks for sharing the idea :D x
This is genius! My kids are going to absolutely love this. I’m going to do the middle layer with refried beans and cheese.
Yesss that would be wonderful!
This is genius! Definitely trying it out for my husband this week. He will LOVE it! Have pinned!
Let me know how it goes! :)
This looks beyond amazing! Beautiful pictures as always, yum!
Aw thanks Florian :)
What an absolutely GENIUS idea! I can’t wait to give these a go. My 2 boys are going to be so happy :) Thanks for sharing.
This looks amazing, SO looking forward to making these. Great idea to cook quesedillas in the oven, I’ve always had trouble flipping them over.
I sometimes do them in a pan but it always seems a bit pointless! They need much less attention in the oven :D
OH MY GOD, that is my ideal pizza, when I order my made up pizzas is very similar to that!!!!
Oh glory, I’m starving!!!!
Wonderful post hun, well done!!! :)
Haha thanks Paola :)
What a brilliant idea to use tortillas for a pizza base. So easy to make and hard to resist by the looks of it.
That looks like my kind of pizza, very thin crust with the tortillas and lots of fresh toppings!! YUM!!
This looks fab Becca!!!! Love the double cheese!!!! YUM!
Thanks Mila :D
I saw this and I made this face: O.O
Then, angels sang and I knew it was true. Becca STRIKES AGAIN! Totally putting this on next week’s menu. I must have it in my life.
Hahaa! I’m sometimes told that I use too much cheese, so it’s nice to know that some people appreciate it ;)
Husband says I’d have been in trouble if he’d been vegan. :p
Oh, and as for the question about peculiar things people like on pizza; gorgonzola is great on a pizza. Might not seem very peculiar, but I don’t actually otherwise like blue cheese at all if it’s not cooked into something, so I say it counts. Green pesto dollops as well. Or using ajvar instead of tomato sauce, which is actually rather fantastic.
Actually for a mega cheese lover I’m not a big fan of blue cheese either! I can handle it in very small doses like you – maybe pizza is the way to have it, since pizza makes everything good ;)
These look great – I always think of quesadillas being two pieces of tortilla sandwiched together but then I guess that would look less interesting in pictures (I photographed quesadillas once and they were pain in the bum!!)
Well these do have two tortillas sandwiched together – the pizza topping is extra :) and yes usually quesadillas are very uninspiring to photograph!