Truffled mushroom quesadilla

A little bit of truffle salt goes a long way. The black truffle salt from Dean and Deluca is amazing. If you ever wander into the store, you must try it. My sister Maria surprised me with a jar, and its one of my favorite gifts because its not something I would have splurged for myself.


Anywho.. I'll give myself a nice pat on the back for this quesadilla. On a very ordinary night, with no special occasion, I casually whipped together a dinner that me very content. I mentioned in my last post that the truffle salt was not meant for the pizza I made. It should really be used in something where you are able to notice the depth of flavor it adds. A quesadilla is one option! I had a similar quesadilla a few months ago at a Bier International in Harlem. The service was terrible, the fries nothing special, but the quesadilla was pretty yummy. So I decided to create my own version.

What made this whole dinner even better, is that it didn't cost anything extra for me to make. I made use of the ingredients I already had. Typical me had gotten too many mushrooms in preparation for the pizza. I heated some olive oil in a cast iron skillet and sautéed them with truffle salt. At this point, they already began to smell marvelous and I was becoming more hungry, excited, and proud of myself by the minute. In the same skillet, I heated the tortillas and layered it with MONTEREY JACK cheese and some left over manchego cheese (I am not a fan of yellow cheese in quesadillas). Unfortunately, I didn't have any fresh herbs on hand, but I sprinkled a pinch of dried oregano on top of the cheese.

The combination of the cheeses and the mushrooms with the truffle salt has a rich, earthy flavor, making this the ultimate comfort food.  The quesadillas soaked up some of the oil from cooking the mushrooms, giving the tortilla a nice outside crisp and even more flavor. Obviously this does not avoid extra calories, but the added flavor was well worth it.

Truffled mushroom quesadilla 

makes 1 large quesadilla (8 small slices)

1/2 c sliced baby bella mushrooms

pinch of black truffle salt, to taste

tbsp olive oil

2 flour tortillas

1/2 c monterey jack cheese

1/8 c manchego cheese (optional)

1/8 tsp dried oregano

Heat olive oil in large pan. Sauté mushrooms with truffle salt until golden brown and tender. Transfer to plate. Place tortilla on same skillet. Add cheese with even layer on top and add mushrooms. Sprinkle with oregano. Place second tortilla on top. Heat until cheese begins to melt and flip. Remove when cheese is fully melted and to desired crispiness for tortilla.