Chorizo and Sweet Potato Quesadillas with Chipotle Lime Crema

Chorizo and Sweet Potato Quesadillas with Chipotle Lime Crema ~ Mexican chorizo, sweet potatoes, and red pepper in a cheesy quesadilla topped with a chipotle lime crema.

What is a Quesadilla?

Ah quesadillas! Mexican Food’s answer to the grilled cheese.

Just like the grilled cheese, you can pretty much stuff anything you can think of between the two tortillas and cheese. Of course you can always rock it traditional style with only cheese, but why do that when you can add all sorts of goodies?

Quesadillas are a great thing for a quick lunch. However, they are also fantastic when you want to have a relaxed dinner, but one that’s been spruced up.

Darla, my BFF, recently purchased new outdoor furniture. We had plans to have an “us-only” girl’s night and work on our wine pairing skills. We’re honing our skills for all the future “more than us” girl’s nights. 

I am not a sommelier by any means. In fact, I know just a little about wine and the correct pairings for flavors, but it’s become something I am very interested in and have been researching for the last year or so.I love attending wine dinners where we are served multiple courses, all paired with a different wine that was chosen to mutually enhance each other. Sometimes I will find a wine I like and make a dish to go with it. Other times I will make a dish and find a wine to complement it.

And occasionally, and times like here, I will choose wines on different spectrums of the sweet/dry scale and just see which goes best with a recipe.

Certain foods have become easier to pair. For example, Italian cuisine or beef are easier for me now to match. But there are still those cuisines I struggle with like Mexican food or all Asian foods.

So what wine would go with these Chorizo and Sweet Potato Quesadillas with Chipotle Lime Crema?

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #SummerVino #CollectiveBias. The following content is intended for readers who are 21 or older.

For this ‘two wines on both spectrums with a recipe evening’, I wanted quesadillas with sweet and spicy notes (that shouldn’t surprise anyone really.) So which wine? Sweet to counter the spicy? Drier to counter the sweet? To not bust my budget and still have a quality, consistent product, I selected two wines from the Sutter Home family of wines. They have many different varietals and over 350 gold medals to go with those varietals.

I selected Sutter Home Moscato and Sutter Home Chardonnay. Then I selected the goodies to stuff inside the quesadilla. I chose sweet potatoes, red pepper, and chorizo. My dipping sauce had to be spicy, so I went with a chipotle lime crema. First, can I get a wow for the flavors I built in this recipe? It’s been several days since I made this, and I am STILL dreaming about it’s deliciousness.

Chorizo and Sweet Potato Quesadillas with Chipotle Lime Crema

Course: Appetizer/Dinner

Cuisine: Mexican

Keyword: chorizo, Mexican chorizo, sweet potato, wine pairing

Servings: 6

Author: Michelle De La Cerda

Mexican chorizo, sweet potatoes, and red pepper in a cheesy quesadilla topped with a chipotle lime crema.

Print

Ingredients

Chorizo and Sweet Potato Quesadillas

• 10 count package flour tortillas (medium size)
• 1 lb fresh Mexican chorizo; casings removed
• 1 cup chopped red bell pepper (about 2 medium peppers)
• 2 lbs sweet potatoes; peeled and diced (about 2 medium sweet potatoes)
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1/8-1/4 tsp salt/pepper; to taste
• 14 oz Monterrey Jack cheese; shredded
• 1/2 cup chopped red onion
• 3 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro

Chipotle Lime Crema

• 1/3 cup Mexican crema
• 1/3 cup Greek yogurt
• 1 1/2 tbsp fresh squeezed lime juice
• 1/4 tsp cumin
• 1/4-1/2 tsp chipotle powder; to taste/spice level
• 1/8 tsp salt and pepper; +/- to taste
• 1/8 tsp granulated garlic
• 1 tbsp fresh chopped cilantro

Instructions

Chipotle Lime Crema

1. Mix all the ingredients together, cover, and chill for at least 30 minutes or until ready to use.

Chorizo and Sweet Potato Quesadillas

1. Heat a large skillet on medium high heat, once hot, remove the chorizo from the casings and cook through, stirring often, about 5 minutes.
2. Drain the renderings, place chorizo in a bowl and set aside.
3. In the same pan still lined with a bit of chorizo renderings, add the red pepper in a single layer, allow to cook without stirring for several minutes. Stir, flipping them over, and cook another several minutes, allowing them to get color. Stir again, remove from heat, and place in a bowl; set aside.
4. In the same pan over medium high heat, add the olive oil and then the sweet potatoes, in a single layer and cook without stirring for 3 minutes.
5. Add the salt and pepper, just a bit and stir.
6. Add more seasoning while cooking, stirring often until seasoned to taste. Cook until fork tender, about 8 minutes.
7. In the same pan over medium heat, add a tortilla, layer it with cheese, chorizo, red pepper, sweet potatoes, and cilantro. Once the cheese begins to melt on the bottom, sprinkle the top with cheese and place another tortilla over the top, press down, either with a smaller pan, press, or spatula.
8. Carefully flip over and press down again. cook until the bottom is golden brown, about 2-3 minutes.
9. Remove from pan and allow to rest for 1-2 minutes, then slice.
10. Serve with chipotle lime crema and garnish with fresh chopped red onion and cilantro.

When it came time to eat, we opened the bottles, let them breath for just a moment, and then poured. I’m sure we looked silly with a wine glass in one hand and one messy, gooey quesadilla in the other hand.

At first we forgot what we were there to do. We were simply enjoying a lovely evening outdoors with a very tasty meal, two fantastic glasses of Sutter Home wine, and lots of laughter. But then we got serious. Both Darla and I agreed that overall, the Sutter Home Chardonnay is the winner with this dish. It’s much drier than the Sutter Home Moscato to counter the sweetness of the red pepper and the sweet potato. I will say the moscato was perfect when you got a full bite of the chipotle lime crema.

How might you Uncork the Moments and celebrate summer with Sutter Home Wines?

Thank you for sharing!