Italian Quesadilla Recipe

I may have mentioned it before, but I will mention it again. My great grandfather was Italian, and he imparted some of his culinary wisdom down to my grandmother. This wisdom came in the form of tomato sauces cooked for days on end, gloriously brown meat balls simmered in stock to make them puffy and delicately soft inside, Lasagna layered with ricotta and roasted bell peppers, mushrooms filled with parmesan cheese, eggplants sautéed and drenched in meaty sauces, creamy ricotta mixed with coffee and grated chocolate, cheesecakes, torts and so much more.

Other than that from what I know of the man and from what I remember he was a sod. A sod, who terrified his daughters with his passionate outbursts of rage over the tiniest household infractions, treating them little better than housemaids until they could get married and move out. While coddling his only son just so he could grow up and join the priesthood. Unfortunately that didn’t happen and my great uncle Jim (Giacomo) Jr. was shot down in his first bombing run over Germany in 1943 and subsequently executed by the Nazis during a tragic death march.

Whoa ok, that was depressing.

So the point, eh? Well I think the point was I grew up loving Italian food. Especially when I was visiting the United States and could sit in the kitchen listening to my grandmother chop things into smaller things, rattle pans sautéing onions and garlic and swearing at my grandfather under her breath. (He always did something wrong, either he was breathing too loud or too soft, or his newspaper was dirty, or he left his shoes out of the closet something…I know what you are thinking the messed up apple doesn’t fall to far from the dysfunctional tree.) Every now and then my eyes would go wide as a column of steam would burst forth from one of the pots as she removed the lid to taste or stir. The aromas of long cooked red wine, simmering tomatoes and hints of basil, garlic and rosemary lingered in the air and mixed with the smells of fresh cream being whipped into coco and butter.

It was like watching magic happen. In a way it is. (Take that you, crazy red panted Rodent! Magic Kingdom my bo-tuckus!) So here is a recipe that is American in it's soul and Italian at heart.

Ingredients:

8 Burrito Sized flour tortillas

1 Cup of shredded mozzarella cheese

½ cup of shredded parmesan cheese

1 tablespoon of fresh sliced basil or 1 teaspoon dried basil

2-3 Garlic cloves (Or more to stop the blood sucking vampire, twilight wannabes away) chopped fine

Your favorite Marinara sauce heated

Method:

Heat a dry skillet over medium heat, add a tortilla and sprinkle one half with a mix of both of the cheeses, the basil and a little garlic, cook for 2-3 minutes. Fold in half with spatula, press down and remove to cutting board. With sharp knife or pizza cutter cut into four wedges (cover or place in warm oven so that they will remain hot when served) . Continue with remaining ingredients. Serve with a side of your favorite marinara sauce.

Serves four peeps, or eight as an appetizer or part of a cocktail party offering