Every time I walk into Franklin I immediately scan the premise for a quesadilla bar. I’ve only seen this thing of beauty once before and it has eluded me ever since. Fortunately quesadillas are not only really easy to make but really cheap as well. You can usually get all the ingredients for multiple cheese quesadillas for the same price that you might get one at a restaurant. So for cheese loving college students, home made quesadillas are a must. No more dashed dreams by the lack of quesadillas in the DCs because now you can have them whenever you want!

What you’ll need:

2 flour tortillas (any size)

shredded cheese

butter

What you’ll do:

1. Heat a large frying pan to medium heat on a stove top.

2. Once heated add a small amount of butter to the pan and let it melt, tilting the pan around to make sure the whole thing is covered. How much butter you want to put in is really up to you. If you want your quesadillas to be crispier than you’d add more butter to really fry up the tortillas. However the more butter you put in the faster you’ll have to work to avoid burning. Just make sure you have enough butter that once it is melted the entire pan has a least a little butter coating it.

3. Place one of the tortillas into the pan and let one side cook for about 30-45 seconds or once air pockets start forming. Using a spatula check for doneness on the facedown side. If it’s starting to brown remove from the pan and place off to the side.

4. Add a bit more butter to the pan so the next tortilla cooks evenly.

5. Place the second tortilla in the pan and immediately start adding the shredded cheese. As far as cheese goes I would recommend using cheddar or nacho blend rather than something like mozzarella that doesn’t melt together very well. If you’re just making a cheese quesadilla you can add as much or as little cheese as you want. If you’re adding anything else make sure you do so sparingly or else it will be harder for the tortillas to come together like a real quesadilla.

6. After you’ve added everything you want, place the first tortilla on top. Press down with a spatula or flip the quesadilla (which I wouldn’t recommend if you’ve add something more than cheese).

7. Once the cheese it melted and holding the quesadilla together remove from pan and cut into wedges.

The best thing about quesadillas is that you can add whatever you want to them. Chicken or steak, peppers and tomatoes, M&Ms, whatever floats your boat.

Enjoy!

Samantha Gillis can be reached for comment at [email protected].