VeganMoFo: Roasted Pear, Roasted Pepper Chedda’ & Sauerkraut Quesadillas with Pecans

QuesadillaThis is one of those combinations that – on paper – doesn’t seem at all reasonable.  Sauerkraut in a quesadilla?  With pears??  In the mouth, however, it works with delicious synchronicity.  There’s the smooth richness of the cheddar cheez (yet another riff on my Smoky Pesto Cashew Cheez – this time using pine nuts and roasted yellow bell pepper), the delicate sweetness of the roasted pear, the crunch of toasty pecans and the tang of sauerkraut.  In short, it’s kind of addictive.

(Thank you, VeganMoFo for including me in yesterday’s round-up!  Appreciate it!)

Roasted Pear, Roasted Pepper Chedda’ & Sauerkraut Quesadillas with Pecans
Makes 3-4 quesadillas

Roasted Pepper Chedda’ Cheez:
1 yellow pepper, cored and deseeded
1/2 cup pine nuts, toasted
1 shallot, peeled and roughly chopped
1 clove garlic, roughly chopped
1 tbsp. white miso
1 tbsp. tahini
1 tsp. Liquid Smoke
1/4 nut milk
juice of 1 lemon
1 tsp. onion powder
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. ground white pepper
1/4 tsp. smoked paprika
1/4 cup nutritional yeast

1/2 oz. agar flakes
1 1/2 cups water

Quesadillas:
3-4 whole wheat tortillas, warmed
1 large pear, sliced into 1/4″ strips, lengthwise and the core and stem trimmed out
1 1/2 cups sauerkraut, drained well
Slices of chedda’ cheez (as much as you like)
~1/8 cup pecans, toasted and chopped

Pepper Collage

Make the cheez:

You’ll need a dish with a 3+ cup capacity.  No need to spray it with oil.

Cut the pepper in half and place on a baking sheet.  Smash the halves down – just to flatten them a bit.  Broil them until the skin turns black and your house smells like a farmer’s market in Santa Fe.  Place the peppers in a bag and let them sit for about 15 minutes.  Carefully remove from the bag and peel off the skin.  Roughly chop and set aside.

In a food processor, grind the pine nuts until fairly fine.  They don’t need to be powdery – there will be one more step that will get them nice and smooth.  Now add the roasted pepper and all of the remaining ingredients – except for the agar flakes and water.  Process until fairly smooth.  Now for the kind of pain-in-the-butt step: pour the mixture into a blender.  Set aside.

Meanwhile, combine the agar and water in a small saucepan and bring to a boil.  Lower the heat, but keep the mixture on simmer.  Stir regularly.  After five minutes, quickly pour the agar mixture into the blender with the roasted pepper mixture and process until very smooth.  Quickly pour the cheez into the dish you set aside earlier.  Place in the refrigerator to firm up.

Roast the pears:
Preheat the oven to 425F.  Line a small baking sheet with parchment paper.  Place the pear slices on the parchment and roast for about 10-15 minutes.  Pears should be soft and juicy, but not necessarily browned.  Remove from the pan and allow to cool for a few minutes.

Sliced Pears

Assemble the quesadillas:
Place cheez slices, pear slices, a scoop of sauerkraut and a sprinkling of pecans on one half of a quesadilla.  Gently fold it over; repeat with remaining tortillas.  Lightly spray a pan with cooking oil and brown the quesadillas on low to medium heat.  Turn over and brown the other side.  Remove from pan, slice quesadillas in half and serve.  (This cheez does melt, but you gotta be patient.  Low and slow heat.)
Quesadilla Ingredients

Quesadillas

VeganMoFo

Follow on Bloglovin'

52 thoughts on “VeganMoFo: Roasted Pear, Roasted Pepper Chedda’ & Sauerkraut Quesadillas with Pecans

  1. Somer

    Pine Nut cheddar! Who needs smoked coconut gouda!?! P.s. I think you’ve reduced the fat content even more with the addition of the yellow pepper and the reduction of the amount of nuts you genius. Those quesadillas for sure topped the ones we had last night! Incredible combo!

    Reply
    1. An Unrefined Vegan

      Not a chance, lady!! I was totally drooling over your quesadillas! Gouda was in my Top 5 favorite cheese list – so I’m dyin’ to try your recipe!

      Reply
  2. Somer

    Whoa! I totally missed that MOFO showed you some love, checked it out! Awesome! That chocolate peanut butter mousse totally deserved to be up front and center!

    Reply
  3. biggsis

    Actually, I thought this sounded incredible from the git-go. Extremely innovative. You’re going to have to open a restaurant you know!

    Reply
  4. Shira

    I am down with this entire combo Annie…I am a sauerkraut girl all the way! A great combo of sour, sweet, and salty! Yum!

    Reply
  5. Brittany

    I do admit the different flavor combos had me saying whaaaatttt, but I definitely take your word that they come together for a mouth orgasm like no other!

    Reply
  6. Susmitha - Veganosaurus

    Duuuude that looks so yum!! If I’d just heard the ingredients, I might not have believed it would be a ood combination but the pictures have me sold! :)

    Reply
  7. annesturetucker

    Oh yes! I can totally see how this would be a divine mouthful – yum!! You are such a creative soul Annie!!

    Reply
  8. emmycooks

    Ok, yes, this sounds so crazy that I need to try it! I also am collecting recipes to use up the gallon of sauerkraut that will be ready in a few weeks–this one is on the list!

    Reply
  9. cakewhiz

    this is possibly one of the most creative quesadillas i have ever come across. all those ingredients coming together sound delish!

    Reply
  10. tearoomdelights

    You continue to astonish me with your inventive creations – cheese made from a yellow pepper? I’m speechless.

    Reply
  11. GiGi

    In pregan days I made something similar with *oh the shame* brie. Perhaps I have funky tastebuds but this combo appealed to me immediately, no convincing needed. Yum.

    Reply
    1. An Unrefined Vegan

      Oh, I used to love Brie. And Gouda. And Havarti. Don’t forget Muenster, Parm and provolone. Yet – I don’t miss those days, either ;-).

      Reply
  12. Rachel in Veganland

    YUM! These look PHENOMENAL! I’m seriously obsessed with quesadillas and these look right up my alley! What a great recipe, Annie!

    Reply
    1. An Unrefined Vegan

      I love ’em. I swear you could put anything inside tortillas and grill it and it would be wonderful!

      Reply
  13. * Vegan Sparkles *

    Oooh I used to love pear and cheese salads in my pre-vegan days so I’m loving where you’re going with this! That chedda looks incredible.

    Reply
  14. tinykitchenstories

    Wow. I just want to cram that in my face. You are so creative, using the sauerkraut! I’ve been thinking about making some recently…YUM!

    Reply
  15. narf77

    I am gobsmacked! That looks like an amazing recipe AND we get an amazing bonus cheeze recipe! I can’t thank you enough as anything cheezy is equally relished by me and by my dear meaty man. He raves about crock cheeze and anything vegan and cheezy and its one thing that he never tires of sharing with me. Love these posts and love Love LOVE this blog! :) I am so glad I found it recently :)

    Reply
      1. narf77

        Au contraire my dear YOU made MY day with that amazing recipe! I will be making that cheese post haste today and will be smacking Steve’s fingers to stop him nibbling off the edges.

  16. Pingback: Annie’s Chocolate and Blueberry Creme Whoopie Pies. Vegan Glutenfree Recipe

  17. Christy

    So delicious! I just made this combo for lunch and will be making these again. Definitely passes the flavor test! Thank you for sharing such a delicious recipe.

    Reply

Leave a Reply to annesturetucker Cancel reply