Antojitos (Little Whims) – Tacos , Quesadillas And Their Cousins

Antojitos are Mexico’s take on tapas. Lots of finger-foodie delights, amply based on, but not limited to the 1001 ways of serving tortillas.

There’s virtually no limit to what you can do with tortillas. Filled with melted cheese and other ingredients they are known as quesadillas (KE-SA-DEE-YAS). Other fillings make for tacos, though these can also contain cheese. There are no hard-and-fast rules here. Tightly rolled and fried they become flautas.

Every region in Mexico has its way of filling, folding, cooking and naming tortillas

• Raw nixtamal dough is filled with beans and fresh cheese, shaped into ovals and cooked on the skillet as tlacoyos, or additionally fried as huaraches.
• Tortillas dipped in tomato sauce, chilli sauce and bean puree and baked with other accompaniments are known as entomatadas, enchiladas and enfrijoladas respectively.
• Tlayudas are thin, crisp tortillas from Oaxaca.
• Ground pumpkin seeds and chaya leaves make up papadzules and dzotobichay in the Yucatan.
• Northern and Tex-Mex flour tortilla dishes include burritos, fajitas and chimichangas.

And a lot, lot more: phew!

Let’s start with something really simple:

Quesadillas

Manuel

Quesadillas are often eaten fried for lunch and simply toasted on the skillet at any time. They are excellent with virtually any spicy sauce, but especially a fruity salsa made from mango, papaya or pineapple

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Prep Time 10 mins

Cook Time 5 mins

Total Time 15 mins

Cuisine Latin American, Mexican

Ingredients

  

• any number of corn or wheat tortillas, bought or home-made (see recent post)
• Requesón De Oaxaca or Halloumi Cheese grated
• Cheddar or any other hard cheese grated
• Whole Epazote leaves or a dusting of dried Epzote (optional) or any fresh herb that goes well with cheese such as mint or basil

Instructions

 

• warm up the pre-made tortillas on one "inner" side for 30 seconds on a medium hot skillet
• flip the tortillas, place the grated cheeses and herbs on one side and fold in half
• after 20-30 seconds turn the quesadilla to toast the other side and further melt the cheese. Keep warm wrapped in a clean tea-towel inside a chiquihuite, bread-basket or other similar container with a lid
• serve with your favourite salsa(s)
  

Notes

Quesadillas are even more delicious with and addition of

• fried onions
• sautéd mushrooms
• sautéd courgette flowers
• sautéd peppers or Jalapeño chillies
• onion marmalade
• chilli jam
• etc, etc, etc

Next up: Mexican Beans For Vegan Quesadillas And Tacos