The Nutelladilla

Years ago, my younger brother taught me how to make quesadillas. He worked as a cook at Denny’s when he was in college, so they aren’t the flopsy soulless steamed quesadillas popular at an upscale casual fast food Mexican restaurants. They are buttery, crispy, ooey gooey goodness.

They are also remarkably versatile. Take away the quesa leaving the dilla and you can add just about anything. A few days ago, I made what I call Nutelladillas for an after-school snack. They were a perfect sweet warm-up on a cold winter day and super easy to throw together. This isn’t a formal recipe, but because I was asked at Instagram to share what I did, here it is:

You’ll need burrito-sized flour tortillas, butter or margarine, Nutella, semi-sweet chocolate chips, cinnamon-sugar (we keep a jar premixed), and whipped cream.

Butter one side of a flour tortilla. Flip it over. Spread Nutella in a thinish layer on only half of the bare size of the tortilla. Sprinkle it with chocolate chips. Meanwhile, heat a large skillet or frying pan on low-medium heat (if it were my stovetop, I’d use 4-5.) Put the tortilla in the pan, butter side down. Heat slowly, so the tortilla doesn’t crisp too quickly. Give the Nutella and chocolate chips time to melt and meld.

Check the tortilla for signs of crisping and light browning. You don’t want it to be too stiff or the tortilla won’t fold. Once it is lightly browned, fold the tortilla in half with your spatula making sure the Nutella half and the bare half meet. Sprinkle with cinnamon-sugar before the butter is totally absorbed so it sticks to the tortilla. Fry until crisp on both sides. Feel free to flip it over until evenly golden and delightful. Remove from heat to a cutting board.

Add another all-over sprinkle of cinnamon-sugar. I like to slice using a pizza cutter. Zip zip zip, usually into four triangles. Top with whipped cream if you have it around, but really, it’s rich enough to not need it. Ice cream would be fun on top, too, for a more dessertish feel.

Substitutes for chocolate chips could be anything soft or melty, like thin banana coins, sliced strawberries, mini marshmallows for a s’mores thing. This isn’t a revolutionary idea by any long shot. I don’t claim to have invented something as basic as a fried carb filled with sweet things, but hey. You might be able to make this RIGHT NOW with ingredients you have on hand and you just haven’t thought about pairing them.