Now, that you’ve enjoyed that delicious lamb stew we made the other day, it’s time to use the leftovers. I promised you we would. First step, puree the remaining stew in a blender. The result will be a wonderfully thick sauce. You can pretty much use this for any dish your heart desires, but today I’m featuring shrimp quesadillas.

As Truly Mexican describes, quesadillas are the grilled cheese sandwich of Mexico. They can be served as a simple snack or as a meal (especially, the way I made them). You can make them with just cheese or make any kind of filling to go in them.

Shrimp quesadillas

What you’ll need
12 corn tortillas or 8 small flour tortillas (the ones you get to make fajitas)
2 – 3 cups grated cheese of your choice (I used chipotle cheddar and monterey jack with roasted red peppers)
1/2 pound fresh shrimp, shelled, deveined and sliced in half lengthwise
2 – 3 cups of the stew sauce.

Chipotle cheddar cheese and Monterey Jack cheese with roasted peppers

Salt and pepper the shrimp. Heat the stew sauce over medium heat and add the shrimp. Continue to heat until the shrimp are opaque. Remove from heat and let cool down a little.

Shrimp in stew sauce

Heat heavy skillet over medium heat. Place one flour tortilla on the skillet and heat for a couple seconds on each side. Do the same with a second tortilla, leaving the second one in the skillet. Place 2 – 3 tbsp of cheese on the tortilla.

Quesadilla bottom with cheese

Then add about 1/4 cup of the shrimp sauce and sprinkle with more cheese.

Add quesadilla filling and more cheese

Cover with the other tortilla and cook on each side for about 1 minute, so they’re slightly browned. Repeat process for desired amount of quesadillas.

Place second tortilla on top of filling

Let the quesadilla cool slightly and cut into four triangles. You can eat them as is or top with crema (or thinned cream cheese), guacamole, salsa or more cheese if you wish.