Lamb, Feta and Roasted Tomato Quesadilla

I couldn’t wait for tomato season. I dreamed about tomatoes last night and just had to have some. As always, my trip to the store for tomatoes turned into a longer affair. Mostly because I was inspired by the fresh herbs and fresh ground lamb in the meat department. I came home and made this for brunch. And I am totally in love with it.

You might think cottage cheese is an odd ingredient for a quesadilla, but the cheese curds in the cottage cheese melt beautifully and mixed with the feta, create a creamy, melty cheese sauce that makes for an amazing quesadilla experience.

Lamb, Feta and Roasted Tomato Quesadilla

3 Roma tomatoes, sliced

2 large shallots, sliced

Olive oil

Kosher salt

fresh ground pepper

1/2 lb. fresh ground lamb

1 t. cumin

1/2 c. cottage cheese

1/2 c. feta cheese, crumbled

1 T. fresh oregano, chopped

1/2 c. Kalamata olives, chopped

8 fajita-size flour tortillas

juice of 1/2 lemon

1 lemon, sliced for garnish

Greek yogurt for garnish

fresh mint for garnish

In a cast iron skillet, drizzle about a tablespoon of olive oil to coat the bottom of the pan. Turn the heat up to medium high. Place the tomato slices in the pan. Make sure they are not overlapping. Sprinkle them with salt and pepper. Cook over medium heat for 2-3 minutes, until golden brown on the bottom. Turn them over gently and cook for another 2 minutes. Remove from pan and set aside. They might fall apart a bit, but don’t worry – they will taste delicious.

Add the sliced shallots to the pan, adding olive oil if necessary. Saute over medium high heat until caramelized and golden brown, about 4 minutes. Remove from pan and set aside.

Add the ground lamb to the skillet, season with salt and pepper and add the cumin. Cook over medium heat until cooked through and brown, around 5-6 minutes. Set aside.

In a food processor, add the cottage cheese, feta cheese and oregano. Pulse for just a second or two.

Spread the feta mixture on two tortillas. Arrange 1/4 of the lamb, tomatoes, olives and shallots on top of one of the tortillas. Place the other tortilla on top. Repeat 3 times with remaining tortillas.

In the cast iron skillet, once again coat the pan with olive oil and heat over medium heat. Place one quesadilla in the pan and cook over medium heat until golden brown on the bottom, about 4 minutes. Flip carefully and cook for another 2 minutes on the other side. Repeat with the three other quesadillas.

Cut each quesadilla into four pieces. Sprinkle with lemon juice and garnish with Greek yogurt and fresh mint leaves.