Sweet Potato and Goat Cheese Quesadillas
Folded flour tortillas filled with a rough mash of roasted sweet potato, slow caramelized onion, chipotle and tangy crumbled goat cheese, crisped in a skillet.
Servings 4 quesadillas
Ingredients
For the Filling
- 1 ½ lb sweet potatoes peeled, cut into ½ inch cubes, about 2 medium
- 2 tablespoons olive oil divided
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 large yellow onion halved and thinly sliced
- 1-2 chipotle peppers in adobo minced, plus 1 teaspoon adobo sauce
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
- 2 tablespoons fresh cilantro chopped
For Assembly
- 4 flour tortillas 10 inch
- 4 oz fresh goat cheese (chevre) crumbled
- 1 cup Monterey Jack shredded
- 1 tablespoon neutral oil for the skillet
Instructions
Roast and Caramelize
- Heat the oven to 425F. Toss the cubed sweet potato with 1 tablespoon olive oil, the cumin and the salt, and spread it in a single layer on a sheet pan.
- Roast 25 minutes, until the edges have caught color. Do not crowd the pan or the cubes steam instead of roasting.
- Meanwhile, cook the sliced onion in a skillet with the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium-low heat for 20 to 25 minutes, stirring every few minutes, until limp and deep gold.
Make the Filling
- Tip the roasted sweet potato into a bowl and mash it roughly with a fork, leaving plenty of texture. Do not puree it.
- Fold in the caramelized onion, minced chipotle and adobo sauce, lime juice and cilantro. Taste and adjust the salt. Let the mash sit 5 minutes to stop steaming.
Fill and Crisp
- Lay a tortilla flat and spread about ½ cup of the mash over one half only, leaving a ½ inch border. Scatter a quarter of the Monterey Jack over it, then crumble a quarter of the goat cheese on top. Fold the bare half over and press gently.
- Wipe out the onion skillet, set it over medium heat with a thin film of oil, and cook two quesadillas at a time for 3 to 4 minutes per side, pressing them flat with a spatula.
- Keep the heat at medium so the tortilla browns while the goat cheese softens. Rest each quesadilla 2 minutes before cutting.
Notes
- Goat cheese will not stretch: it is acid-set, so it goes creamy rather than stringy. The Monterey Jack is what holds the fold shut.
- Roast, do not boil: boiling adds water and a wet filling steams the tortilla limp from the inside.
- Rough mash only: stop while there are still recognizable pieces of sweet potato in it.
- Flour tortillas, not corn: corn cracks along the fold.
- Reheating: a dry skillet over medium, 3 minutes a side. The microwave undoes the crisp entirely.