Red Pepper, White Bean & Red Onion Quesadillas
Guess what, it's another PR based 'week' and this time it's National Vegetarian Week's turn. Should you wish to get on board and have a meat-free dinner or two in honour of it - and why not, it's good for you, good for the animals and good for the planet etc. - then you could always give these a go.
The great thing about being meat-free from time to time is that there tends to be a few more calories to play around with, should you care about such things. I mostly do, but this is a time when some extra cheese is therefore more than ok.
These are smokey Spanish style quesadillas and are a good alternative to the often fat laden Tex-Med style quesadillas you may be used to. Iberian flavours of olives, sweet red onion and peppers work really well with nicely melting manchego cheese and using cannellini beans adds protein and heartiness. Dip them into creme fraiche or a homemade aioli (egg yolk, garlic, olive oil and whisk).
Here's the recipe.
Serves 2
Ingredients
4-6 soft tortilla wraps
½ can cannellini beans
Roasted red pepper, sliced (the jarred kind are perfect)
Tbsp tomato puree
Tbsp smoked paprika
2-3 tbsp tapenade (black olive paste)
1 small red onion, sliced
50g manchego, sliced or grated
Olive oil
Handful fresh parsley
Place a saucepan over a medium heat and gently cook the onions in a glug of olive oil until soft and sweet (about 10 mins) – covering the pan will make them softer.
Add the beans, paprika, tomato puree and roasted pepper and warm through.
Spread each tortilla with the tapenade, then place equal amounts of the bean filling on two or three of them, depending on how many wraps you are using. Top with parsley and manchego cheese, then place the tortilla lid on top, pressing down to try and flatten them slightly.
Carefully add to a frying pan or griddle pan which has been lightly greased with olive oil. Cook for two or three minutes before – very – carefully flipping the quesadilla over with the aid of a fish slice or similar. Do this for each wrap.
Cut into quarters and serve with crème fraiche for dipping.
