Hands down the easiest way to make quesadillas for the gang - just load up your sheet pans with tortillas, filling, and cheese and bake away! Use your pizza cutter to easily cut them into slices.
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepperto taste
8 flour tortillas, 8" - 10"
2cupsshredded Colby-Jack or cheddar cheese
your favorite quesadilla toppings, such as guacamole, salsa, sour cream, cilantro, etc.
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 425°.
In a large skillet over medium-high heat, heat the olive oil. When the oil is hot, add the bell peppers and onion, cooking just until softened, about 5 minutes; remove from the skillet and set aside.
Add chili powder, cumin, paprika and the ground beef to the same skillet over medium-high heat, breaking up the meat with a wooden spoon, cooking until the beef is no longer pink; season to taste with salt and pepper. Gently stir in the reserved cooked vegetables.
On a large, rimmed baking sheet place 3 tortillas down the center of the pan, overlapping them on top of each other slightly, letting the tortillas at the top and the bottom hang over each end of the baking sheet.
Now, place 6 tortillas around the row of 3 tortillas that were placed down the center of the baking sheet, letting the tortillas over lap each other and hang over the edges of the baking sheet all the way around.
Top the sheet of tortillas with the prepared beef mixture, then sprinkle the cheese over the beef. Place 2 tortillas over the cheese, in the center of the baking sheet, one above the other.
Next, fold each overlapped tortilla towards center, covering the ground beef filling. Brush the top of the tortillas with melted butter. Lastly, place a second baking sheet on top.
Bake the quesadillas on the center rack of the oven until they are golden brown and crispy on the top and the bottom, about 15-20 minutes.
Slide the sheet of quesadillas off the baking sheet onto a large cutting board, then use your pizza cutter to slice into rectangles. Serve the quesadillas warm, with your favorite toppings.
Notes
Cooking ground beef in a super-hot, preheated skillet gives it very good browning and that makes for big, bold flavors. Before you add the ground beef to the skillet, make sure it’s nicely preheated so that when the beef hits the pan, you hear lots of SIZZLE…..a good indicator of good browning.Cast iron is superior for browning meats. I prefer using a 12″ cast iron skillet that has deep sides to keep ingredients from splattering. Because cast iron heats up slowly, it retains heat very well, cooking ingredients evenly with no hot spots in the skillet.Placing the second baking sheet on top of the quesadillas to cook is so that the quesadillas brown on the top and the bottom at the same time, getting them done and on the table much more quickly.Slide the sheet of quesadillas from the baking pan to a cutting board; use a pizza cutter to make quick work of slicing the quesadillas.**Be sure to check the blog post for lots of my favorite tips and tricks, specific instructions, recommended tools and FAQ's for making this recipe.