Description
These spicy sausage muhammara quesadillas combine spicy sausage, kale, olives, cheese, and a flavourful roasted red pepper walnut sauce. They are different, fun, and oh so flavourful!
Ingredients
Spicy Sausage and Kale
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 pound (454 grams) spicy sausage, casings removed (I used organic spicy pork sausage)
- Pinch of sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 4 cups chopped kale
- 1/2 cup pitted Kalamata olives, sliced
Muhammara
- 2 roasted red peppers
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- Juice and zest of 1 lemon (about 1/4 cup of juice)
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup or honey
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 1/2 cup toasted walnuts
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon hot red pepper flakes
For assembling the quesadillas
- 6 medium or 4 large flour tortillas
- 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
- 1/2 cup shredded provolone cheese
- 1/2 cup cubed brie cheese
Pomegranate Avocado Salsa
- Arils from 1 pomegranate
- 1 avocado, pitted and diced
- Big handful of fresh cilantro or parsley, finely chopped
- Pinch of sea salt
- Squeeze of lemon juice
Instructions
- Warm the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. When it shimmers, add the onion and garlic. Cook, stirring occasionally, for five minutes. Add the sausage and use a fork to crumble it into smaller pieces as it cooks. Continue to cook until the sausage is cooked through, about eight more minutes. Add sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper to taste, oregano, and cumin. Stir in the kale and olives and cook just until the kale is bright green. Remove from the heat.
- Next, make the muhammara: In a food processor fitted with the ‘S’ blade, blend together the roasted red peppers, oil, lemon zest, lemon juice, maple syrup, salt, pepper, walnuts, cumin, smoked paprika, and hot red pepper flakes. Process until smooth.
- Preheat the oven to 400 F. Lightly grease two large, rimmed baking sheets with olive oil. Arrange the tortillas on them. Evenly divide the sausage and kale mixture between the tortillas. (Only place it on half of each tortilla so that you can fold them over.) Top the sausage with a couple spoonfuls of muhammara, followed by about 1/3 cup of cheese per quesadilla. Fold over. Brush each quesadilla with a bit of olive oil (this helps make them crispy in the oven) and bake for 12-15 minutes, flipping once halfway through baking.
- Meanwhile, make the salsa: In a bowl, combine the pomegranate, avocado, parsley or cilantro, salt, and a squeeze of lemon juice. Stir and serve over top of the quesadillas.
Notes
You can swap out the provolone and brie for 1 cup of shredded mozzarella, if desired.
The tortillas that I used were medium in size (I would say about 6 inches in diameter), so I was able to make six quesadillas. If your tortillas are the larger burrito size, you may only make four quesadillas.
If you have any muhammara left over, store it in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week. It’s delicious on sandwiches, as a veggie dip, on pasta, or on a grilled cheese!
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Category: Main Course
Keywords: spicy sausage muhammara quesadilla recipe, recipes with muhammara dip