Pork and Sweet Potato Quesadillas
Ground pork browned with ancho chile and a small dice of sweet potato, folded into burrito-size flour tortillas with Mexican blend cheese and browned in butter until crisp.
Servings 4 servings
Ingredients
For the Filling
- 1 medium sweet potato scrubbed, skin on, cut into ¼ inch dice
- ½ pound ground pork
- 1 ½ teaspoons ancho chile powder
- ¾ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 bunch scallions chopped
- ½ cup fresh cilantro chopped
For the Quesadillas
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter divided
- 4 burrito-size flour tortillas about 10 inches
- 2 cups Mexican blend cheese shredded
For Serving
- sour cream
- pickled jalapeno slices drained
- lime wedges
Instructions
Make the Filling
- Scrub the sweet potato, leave the skin on, and cut it into ¼ inch dice.
- Brown the ground pork in a dry skillet over medium-high heat, breaking it up, about 6 minutes. Stir in the ancho chile powder, salt, and pepper in the last minute.
- Tip the pan and spoon off nearly all the rendered fat, then move the pork to a bowl. Do not skip this, the drained fat is what lets the tortilla crisp.
- Melt 1 tablespoon of the butter in the same skillet over medium heat. Add the diced sweet potato in one layer and let it sit undisturbed 3 minutes, then cook, stirring occasionally, 8 to 10 minutes total, until tender and browned on several faces.
- Add the garlic and cook 30 seconds. Take the pan off the heat, return the pork, and fold in the scallions and cilantro. Taste and adjust the salt.
Fill and Brown
- Lay a tortilla flat. Scatter ¼ cup of cheese over one half, spread about ¾ cup of filling over it, and top with another ¼ cup of cheese. Leave a ½ inch border at the curved edge and fold the bare half over.
- Melt a knob of the remaining butter in a skillet over medium heat. Lay the quesadilla in, press gently flat with a spatula, and cook 3 minutes a side, until deep golden with a few dark blisters.
- Repeat with the remaining tortillas, using fresh butter each time and wiping the pan if it darkens.
Rest and Serve
- Move each cooked quesadilla to a board and rest 2 minutes before cutting, so the cheese sets enough to hold the wedges together.
- Cut each half moon into 3 wedges. Serve with sour cream, pickled jalapenos, and lime wedges on the side.
Notes
- Drain the pork: Spoon off nearly all the rendered fat before the sweet potato goes in. This is the difference between a crisp tortilla and a greasy one.
- Dice, do not mash: A ¼ inch dice cooked in butter keeps its shape and browned corners inside the melted cheese.
- ¾ cup of filling per tortilla: Overfilling stops the fold closing flat, which leaves a pale center and pushes filling into the pan.
- Cheese on both faces: Under and over the filling. It seals the fold and holds the wedges together.
- Storage: Filling keeps 3 days refrigerated or 3 months frozen. Cooked quesadillas keep 2 days and reheat in a dry skillet for 2 minutes a side, never a microwave.