California Portobello Quesadilla

In some ways, I can’t believe I’m including this recipe – it’s a fanciful thing that was made for me at some point long ago and for some reason it just stuck with me. I’ve made it several times since then for people and they’ve always found it surprisingly good. There’s something very Williams Sonoma-ish and late 90s about this to me – the non-stickness, the cooking without oil, the general idea that Portobellos and spinach are healthy and vaguely edgy in the way that California was once held to be. I do like how this recipe highlights the beauty and deliciousness of a Portobello cap, something I don’t cook with all that often (I don’t love its tendency to impart a dark stain on a dish), but have a healthy respect for, if from a distance. Anyway, there’s not much else to wax on about this. Try it and you won’t be disappointed. This recipe below will make 3 large quesadillas.

Ingredients:

• 2 large Portobello caps
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 3 small handfuls of baby spinach
• 3 small handfuls shredded cheese, either cheddar, Colby, or jack, or a combination
• 6 large (10-inch or so) flour tortillas

Directions:

Cut the Portobello caps into ½ inch strips, then rotate 90 degrees and cut in half. Heat a large non-stick skillet (it’s got to be non-stick, since you’re not using any oil) over medium high heat, add the garlic and the mushrooms and cooking, stirring almost constantly, until the mushrooms are done. They should be wilted and their gills blackened, and should retain a pleasant chewiness which is often described as meatiness, but really is its own thing entirely. Discard the garlic and reserve the mushrooms in a bowl.

Wipe the pan out with a paper towel, reduce the heat to medium-low, return the pan to the heat and put a tortilla in it. Spread about a third of the mushrooms around the tortilla evenly, and in one layer. Sprinkle a small handful of baby spinach on top, and a small handful of grated cheese on top of that. Place another tortilla on top and press down gently with your hand. Cook on medium low for about 2 minutes, adjusting the heat if it appears to be cooking too quickly, and then flip when light brown spots have formed on the underside of the quesadilla. Cook for another two minutes, lifting up the edge of the top tortilla to confirm that all the cheese has melted and the spinach has wilted, then remove from the pan.

Cut into 4 or 6 wedges, serve immediately and enjoy.