The girl behind the Lama: 24. Salsa Stoup And Double-Decker Baked Quesadillas

This one is a fan favorite in our house! It’s kind of like a spiced up chunky tomato soup. You can never go wrong with quesadillas on the side either! This is a also a good soup to serve to your vegetarian and gluten free friends!

This is a good recipe to experiment with your own favorite flavors. We don’t like things too spicy, so we always skip the jalapeno’s. Add in your favorite quesadilla toppings too! Chicken, beef, pork, a mix of cheeses, salsa ….

Stay tuned tomorrow for the follow up to this one – Taco Chili Mac. It’s the same base recipe and techniques, but with a few swap ins you have a whole new meal!

**This recipe comes from Rachael Ray 365 – No Repeats. Most of the recipes are directly from the book, but some I do change out ingredients a bit for things my family prefers. I’ll add my own comments in with a **.

What do you need?

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, 2 turns of pan, plus some for brushing tortillas
2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and chopped **I skipped this
1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 large onion, chopped
3 ribs celery, chopped with greens **use the leafy greens at the top of your celery – it adds great flavor!
3 cloves garlic, chopped
Salt and pepper
1 (28-ounce) can stewed tomatoes
1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
2 cups vegetable or chicken stock
3 tablespoons chopped cilantro or flat-leaf parsley
6 flour tortillas, 6 to 8 inches
1 cup shredded Cheddar, available in pouches on dairy aisle
3 scallions, chopped
1 cup shredded pepper jack cheese **we used cheddar jack
Sour cream, to pass at table

Now what?

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.

Heat a medium soup pot over medium-high heat. Add 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, 2 turns of the pan and the jalapenos, bell pepper, onions, celery and garlic.

Season with salt and pepper then sauté veggies 5 minutes, add tomatoes, crushed tomatoes and stock and bring soup to a bubble. Reduce heat to a simmer and stir in cilantro.

Paint 1 side of 2 tortillas with oil and place them next to each other, oiled side down, on a large cookie sheet. Mix cheddar with scallions and divide the cheese between the tortillas evenly. Top with another tortilla and top each of those with equal amounts of Pepper Jack cheese. Set the last tortillas on top and brush tops with extra-virgin olive oil. Cook 10 minutes in the oven to melt cheese and crisp up tortillas. Cool quesadillas 5 minutes to set then cut each quesadilla into 6 pieces. **We prefer to cook ours on the stove top, but do whatever you’d like!

Serve bowls of stoup with 3 wedges quesadilla along side each bowlful.