Caramelized Onion, Prosciutto and Fig Quesadilla

You need this gooey quesadilla filled with caramelized onions, prosciutto, arugula, gruyere and fig jam on your dinner table tonight!

I’ve professed my love for bread and cheese before and the quesadilla is another way to get my fix. It’s versatile, fast and satisfies my cheesy, carby cravings. Whenever I put together a cheese board, I need to put a little fruit on there. Sometimes it’s grapes or pears, others times it’s quince paste or fig jam. This quesadilla is like my favorite cheeseboard…salty prosciutto, nutty gruyere and a smear of fig jam. It’s got that perfect balance of salty and sweet sandwiched between two crispy flour tortillas. 

As much as I love cheese, it’s really the caramelized onions that make these quesadillas special. They take just shy of a half hour to cook, but can be made in advance and stored in the frig until you’re ready to pull the quesadilla together. The onions are what Italians call agrodolce thanks to the addition of brown sugar and sherry vinegar and add a sweet and sour flavor to the dish. I love the complexity of these onions and outside of making a fantastic quesadilla , they can also be used as the base of hearty French onion soup, mixed into a savory dip or a used as a topping on a grilled chicken breast.

We’ll be enjoying these for a quick dinner tonight on the last day of our long weekend. We haven’t ventured out much since the temperatures have hovered just above freezing and we’re all experiencing a bit of cabin fever. So today we’re due for brisk walk, running some errands and an afternoon matinee. With these caramelized onions ready to go, dinner will be on the table in minutes. Cheesy, salty, jammy and easy…the perfect ending to our low key weekend.

5 from 1 vote

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Caramelized Onion, Prosciutto and Fig Quesadilla

Prep Time

15 mins

Cook Time

30 mins

Total Time

45 mins

 

A gooey quesadilla filled with caramelized onions, prosciutto, arugula, gruyere cheese and fig jam

Course: Appetizer

Servings: 3 - 8 inch quesadillas

Author: Cathy Roma | whatshouldimakefor.com

Ingredients

• Caramelized Onions
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 2 large onions thinly sliced
• Kosher salt
• 1 Tbsp light brown sugar
• 1 Tbsp sherry vinegar
• 
  
• Quesadillas
• 6 - 8 inch flour tortillas fajita size
• Olive oil
• Caramelized onions
• 8 oz gruyere cheese grated
• 1/4 lb prosciutto thinly sliced
• 2 cups arugula
• 3 Tbsp fig jam

Instructions

1. Caramelized Onions: Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over med/high heat.
2. Add onions and season with salt.
3. Cook for 15 minutes, stirring frequently, until onions are softened and beginning to brown.
4. Add brown sugar and vinegar and stir well. Reduce heat to medium and cook until onions are a deep brown, about 10 minutes. Stir often to prevent sticking and burning.
5. Quesadilla: Brush one side of each flour tortilla with olive oil.
6. Place a tortilla oiled side down in a nonstick skillet and scatter with one third of each of the onions, cheese, prosciutto and arugula. Spread 1 Tbsp of the fig jam on the un-oiled side of another tortilla and place on top of the quesadilla, oiled side up.
7. Place skillet over medium heat and cook until tortilla is golden brown, about 3 mins, and then carefully flip and continue to cook another 3 mins until quesadilla is golden brown and cheese is melted.
8. Cut into quarters and serve.
9. Repeat to make two more quesadillas.