August 21: Chorizo and Butternut Soup with Herbed Tomato and Cheese Quesadillas

1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 pound chorizo, casing removed, finely chopped
1 large yellow onion, chopped
3 large garlic cloves, chopped
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
   Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 10-ounce box frozen cooked butternut squash puree, defrosted
1 quart chicken stock or broth
4 12-inch flour tortillas
2 cups shredded Monterey Pepper Jack or smoked Cheddar cheese
4 scallions, finely chopped
1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves, chopped
2 small plum tomatoes, seeded and chopped

Preheat a large soup pot over medium-high heat. Add the EVOO, then add the chopped chorizo and cook, stirring frequently, for 2 minutes.

Add the onions, garlic, chili powder, cumin, salt, and pepper. Continue to cook for 3 minutes.

Stir in the butternut squash puree. Add the chicken stock, bring to a simmer, and cook for 10 to 15 minutes.

While the soup is cooking, preheat a nonstick skillet or griddle pan to high heat. Blister a flour tortilla for 20 seconds, then flip. Cover half the tortilla surface with some of the shredded cheese, chopped scallions, cilantro, and tomatoes, and season with salt and pepper.

Fold the tortilla in half and cook for a minute longer, 30 seconds on each side, pressing down gently with a spatula.

Repeat with the remaining 3 flour tortillas. Cut the quesadillas into 4 wedges and serve alongside the soup.

4 SERVINGS

I made this meal before church this morning to take to the potluck. I was in a big hurry, so I didn't prep the ingredients before I started cooking. Also, I didn't have a chance to show a "serving" of the meal. I thought this meal was pretty good, especially the quesadillas. The quesadillas got all eaten up, but the soup did not go over well at the potluck because of how greasy it was. AND the recipe called for 2 tablespoons of EVOO in addition to the chorizo. I only put in maybe 1/2 teaspoon, and it was still way to greasy! Next time, I would definitely drain the meat before adding anything else. People didn't eat the soup, but when I went to go get my leftovers, they had been thrown out. :( Oh well, I probably don't need to eat all that grease anyway. I didn't change the recipe, but I never found shredded pepper jack, so I used sliced.