Meatless Monday – Veggie Quesadilla’s with Smoked Gouda

Ok, seriously?  Smoked Gouda?  In case you didn’t hear that the first time let me repeat myself.  Smoked Gouda.  There’s NO WAY this recipe could be bad.

And ok, so it’s not my most frugal meal but it’s still frugal, kinda.  Being meatless always makes a recipe a little bit more frugal than it would have been otherwise and even if you don’t actually save it DOES mean you can splash out on a really delicious alternative ingredient.

In this case it was the smoked Gouda. It was something I bought last January and even though it was on the pricey side, I did use a coupon.  I remember because the exact same coupon came out again this year.  And once this hunk of yellow goodness hit my kitchen my Super Frugal Spidey Senses started tingling.  So what did I do?  I cut it up in to pieces and hid them in the deep freeze.  Yes, that’s right.  I actually hid them.  I managed to make that small wedge of  creamy gold last a full year.

But now time for the actual veggie quesadilla recipe.

A few months ago I pulled a small piece out and made something similar but the other night I perfected an ooey, gooey treasure that Meatless Monday dreams are made of.  The Veggie Quesadilla with Smoked Gouda and Cheddar.

Once again, I have no specific measurements.  This is more of a method, than a recipe.  Just use what you have available or your favorites in quantities that are reasonable.

Veggie Tortilla Recipe Ingredients

• 4 Tortillas
• 1 Red Pepper, roasted
• 2 Portobella Mushrooms
• Carmelized Onions (I keep baggies in the freezer and will do a post on that some day)
• Smoked Gouda
• Cheddar

Veggie Tortilla Recipe Steps

1. The first thing to do is roast the red pepper. Cut the pepper in half, remove all the seeds, drizzle with EVOO, sprinkle with salt and pepper and grill, skin side down, until the skin is black and blistering.  Put in a bowl, cover with a towel or even plastic wrap for a minimum of 20 minutes.  This does a few things.  It helps cook the flesh of the pepper a bit in a smoky atmosphere from the charred skin and makes it soft and flavorful.  It also helps steam the skin so it pulls right off.  It also saves a lot of the juices from the pepper.  Since you grill them skin side down, a lot of juices pool on the flesh side.  You can carefully set them in a bowl without losing all the yummy juices.
2. Next is the Mushrooms.  There’s two schools of thought when it comes to cleaning mushrooms.  Brush lightly or rinse quickly with water.  It is OK to rinse your mushroom, however, I also allow them to air dry afterward.  So do what you want with your fungi.  I’ll rinse and air dry mine.  Next, comes the cooking part.
3. Slice the mushrooms and saute in a hot pan.  Don’t keep flipping them around, leave them be so they can caramelize.  Also, don’t fill the pan too full or you’ll steam them in stead of saute’ them.  I did mine in a couple different batches.
4. Once the mushrooms were done remove them from the pan, wipe it out and added a small amount of oil.  Then fill one side of a tortilla with the ingredients above, fold the tortilla over and cook it in the pan until it is crispy on one side then flip.

These veggie tortillas are over the top delicious and the bonus is they’re not that bad for the waistline.  Just a small amount of Smoked Gouda goes a long way to adding a mouth watering smokiness without making you feel like you’re chewing on a piece of burnt hickory wood.

Enjoy these…soon.