I’m sure I’m not the only one, but I am hooked on Instagram reels. Some people love Pinterest, I love Instagram reels. This is a “reel” recipe that I thought would be a perfect way to make quesadillas for a group of people. I made a couple modification and, second time around, will make a couple more modifications. The construction is really easy with very basic ingredients. On Saturday nights we have a group of friends, twelve folks if everyone is able to join, and we play trivial pursuit or sing karaoke or gather around a bonfire. And we eat very well. Our group first began getting together during the pandemic, and we started out sharing finger foods. Everyone brings something to pass. The finger foods soon evolved into full fledged meals. We call ourselves the Saturday Nighters. The pandemic will be long gone and our group will still be getting together on Saturday nights.

To make these quesadillas you’ll need to have two jelly roll pans measuring approximately 18×13. The first pan to assemble the quesadillas, and the second to weight it down while it bakes. I also used my cast iron fry pan for additional weight while it baked.

Ingredients:

8 – 10 large tortillas (Burrito size)

2 T olive oil

1 medium onion chopped

1 sweet pepper chopped

Meat from a rotisserie chicken shredded (my shredded chicken weighed out at 1.5 pounds)

1 can black beans

1 cup frozen corn

1 1/2 tsp chili powder

1 1/2 tsp cumin

1 1/2 tsp smoked paprika

1 tsp garlic powder

3 cups of shredded cheese (cheddar, jack, or a combination of both)

Heat the olive oil over medium heat and sauté the onions and peppers until tender, about 5 minutes.

Rinse the beans and the corn. In a large bowl stir together the shredded chicken, beans, corn, and sautéed onion and peppers.

Measure out the seasonings and stir into the chicken mixture. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Preheat your oven to 425. Line the first jelly roll pan with parchment paper, and spray with Pam. Put 2 tortillas in the center of the sheet pan and put down 6 additional tortillas half in, half out of the pan.

Spread the chicken and vegetable mixture evenly over the tortillas.

Sprinkle the cheese over the meat and vegetable mixture.

Put two tortillas over the filling in the center of the pan and fold the other six tortillas over.

Spray the bottom of the second pan with Pam and place that pan on top of the tortillas. Bake for 15 minutes with the pan on top. Remove the second pan and bake an additional 5 minutes until the top is a light golden brown. Remove from the oven to a cutting surface. Allow the quesadilla to cool for a few minutes before cutting.

Put out dishes of your favorite quesadilla toppings and dig in. I served ours with a red chunky salsa, a spicy salsa verde, jalapeños, and guacamole. Sour cream, black olives, sliced green onions, and additional cheese would also be great add ons.

NOTE. The next time I make these I will increase the quantity of onions and peppers, sauté a little fresh jalapeño in with the other peppers, and add cilantro to the mix. You could also substitute pinto beans or refried beans for the black beans.

For a vegetarian variation beans, cheese, and vegetables would be very satisfying.

The recipe recommended a 20 minute bake with the top pan on and 5 minutes without. I would reduce the initial bake time to 15 minutes. You can see from the picture that my tortillas were a little extra crispy. You could also sprinkle on a little additional shredded cheese for the last 5 minute bake.