I’ve been making Bake Your Day’s Pumpkin Cheddar Grilled Cheese for years now—at least a few times every fall, whenever I have spare pumpkin puree on hand. Is it possible for a sandwich to be magical? Because this one is. The pumpkin is so creamy, you feel like you’re eating the ooeyist, gooeyist grilled cheese ever even with just a small sprinkle of shredded cheese in each sandwich. Like I said: magical!
Since fall is here and pumpkin season is upon us, I tweaked Bake Your Day’s original recipe and made it into a quesadilla. Quesadillas are one of our favorite dinners around here—Little Pea loves ’tillas and cheese, so she happily eats any other fillings that come with them. And I love that they take only minutes to make.
When I make quesadillas, I like to shred my own cheese with a box grater. (If you live near an IKEA, this is my favorite box grater—it has a handy little container nested inside to collect the food you’re grating.) It adds a few minutes to prep time, but store-bought shredded cheese has anti-caking ingredients added that affect its ability to melt smoothly, so it’s totally worth it. That said, pre-shredded cheese still works, so if you’re in a time-crunch, use 1 cup of store-bought shredded cheddar instead.
Yields 4 servings
Savory pumpkin quesadillas adapted from Bake Your Day's Pumpkin Cheddar Grilled Cheese .
5 minPrep Time
20 minCook Time
25 minTotal Time
Ingredients
- 1 cup pumpkin puree
- 2 teaspoons dried sage
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- A pinch of nutmeg
- Salt and pepper, to taste (optional for toddlers)
- 4 medium whole wheat tortillas
- 4 ounces shredded sharp white cheddar
Instructions
- In a small bowl, stir together the pumpkin, sage, garlic powder, nutmeg, salt and pepper.
- Lay the tortillas on a clean work surface. Spread 1/4 cup of the pumpkin mixture onto half of each tortilla, then top the pumpkin with the cheese. Fold the tops of the tortillas onto the filling and press gently to seal.
- Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Spray a small amount of oil into the skillet—this is optional, but I like doing this because the tortillas get crispier and it helps make sure any overflow from the quesadillas doesn't stick.
- Place two quesadillas in the skillet. Cook for about 5 minutes, or until the bottoms of the quesadillas are crispy and lightly browned. Carefully flip the quesadillas over and cook the other side for 5 minutes more. Repeat with the remaining quesadillas.
- Use a sharp knife to cut the quesadillas into 3 equal triangles and serve.
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