Peri peri paneer quesadillas

I was just browsing through my ‘not finished’ posts and came across this. What???? These super super yummax peri peri paneer quesadillas were something I made in July and finished typing the recipe, uploaded pics. Literally the only thing that has been pending was this prelude and somehow, I totally forgot about this.

I am sure most of you have seen/ heard/ tasted ‘peri peri’ something thanks to Nandos. D loves spicy food & I am pretty sure our fridge now has a bottle of ‘peri peri’ somethin sauce from Nandos. I typically stay away from store bought sauces so I genuinely don’t care what’s in the fridge from the aspect. However, I know I love the spice & zing.

So, when I came across this really nice home made peri peri spice mix on insta and knew I had to try it out. Peri peri spice mix is basically of portugese-african origin where the chillies used are really spicy. This version of hers was easily doable with just the spices available at home and may not be entirely authentic.

However, it was really nice and I knew it had to be documented. The first time I made this for D, I clearly remember Adyant also wanting the same. I had to make a slightly spiced down version for him the very same day.

What I love about this recipe is how quickly it can be put together and yet, how yummy it tastes. I didn’t wanna scramble the paneer completely since I wanted the bite to be felt when its stuffed in.

And oh, for a vegan option, you can swap paneer with tofu/ soya chunks.

I love my hand model :D. Adya was so patient and was perfectly happy with all the adjustments I asked him to make :D. The above is one of my favourite pictures in the whole blog I must say :).

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Peri peri paneer quesadillas

Prep Time

5 mins

Cook Time

10 mins

 

Course: Main Course, Side Dish

Cuisine: International

Servings: 2 persons

Ingredients

• 1 medium onion
• 1 medium capsicum
• 1 big pod garlic
• 150 gms cottage cheese/ paneer
• 1 tsp refined oil

Peri peri spice mix

• 1/2 tsp red chilli powder
• 1/4 tsp oregano
• 1/4 tsp sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp ginger powder
• 1/8 tsp cinnamon powder

For the quesadillas

• 3 nos tortillas
• 100 gms mozarella/ cheddar cheese

Instructions

1. Prep work – Chop capsicum, onion & garlic into thin and long pieces. In a small jar/ box, add all the ingredients under the 'Peri peri spice mix' section and mix it together. Set it aside. Crumble the paneer & set it aside.

2. Heat a pan/ kadai with 1t refined oil. Once hot, add garlic.

3. As the garlic just starts to brown, add capsicum & saute till it starts to change colour.

4. Then throw in the onion and saute.

5. Saute till the onions brown and the capsicum softens.

6. Now add the crumbled paneer and the spice mix.

7. Mix well. Check & adjust salt.

8. Turn off heat. Stuffing for quesadillas are ready now.

9. Heat a flat pan and place a tortilla.

10. Drizzle some oil and let the side brown.

11. Flip and drizzle a little bit more oil (keep on the lowest flame at this point).

12. Add a portion of the stuffing on one half of the tortilla.

13. Add some shredded/ sliced mozarella (I added some jalapenos as well on top).

14. Fold the tortilla & let the tortilla brown (basically wait till the cheese melts inside).

15. Toss on both sides while this happens and then transfer to a plate.

16. Cut into slices & serve along with sour cream as a dip.

Recipe Notes

1. You can make a bigger batch of the spice mix & use some for the recipe and keep the rest stored in an airtight container for later use. You can use this spice mix in a sandwich filling.
2. Instead of paneer, you can use tofu/ soya chunks. Both taste really nice. 
3. If you love spicy, then add a little more of red chilli powder. 
4. You can use any cheese you want/ have for the quesadillas.
5. You can use the paneer filling as such not just in a quesadillas but also as a sandwich filling. 

Stepwise pictures