Sluttery Exclusive: Thomasina Miers' Mexican Food Made Simple

We're very excited to bring you our latest Sluttery Exclusive - from Thomasina Miers' new book Mexican Food Made Simple!

You probably already know that Thomasina won MasterChef before going on to become chef at Wahaca, where her amazing menus showcase hearty, simple and delicious Mexican food - and now many of those recipes can be found in her new book, which is characteristically exuberant about the joys of Mexican street food and how the humble chilli can make a dish sing. It waxes lyrical about quick grilling, how easy-to-find herbs bring meat alive and wondrous ways with leftovers.

I recommend the Tortilla soup and the Autumn Tacos with Onion Squash and Chorizo (together, if like me your eyes are bigger than your stomach) but for a quick and utterly yummy supper, you can't beat our exclusive recipe: Chorizo, Potato and Thyme Quesadillas.

We made them in minutes, using a mixture of mozzarella and Red Leicester and they were fantastic. I'd recommend you use a good non-stick pan or a griddle. We slightly overfilled them so next time we'll use more tortillas and share out the filling amongst them. You could serve with a green salad in the summer but for these still-cold evenings, just pile your plate high with triangles of cheesy goodness!

Chorizo, potato & thyme quesadillas

Quesadillas [kay-sa-dee-yas], stuffed with melted cheese and anything else you fancy, are good at any time of the day, but particularly in front of a movie or a big match. Hand some tortillas around and let everyone fill their own.

Enough for 4 large quesadillas.
Cooking time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

350g potatoes
½ onion, finely chopped
200g chorizo cooking sausage, chopped
a small bunch of thyme, chopped
sea salt and black pepper
4 large flour or corn tortillas
400g cheese, grated
olive oil for frying

Cut the potatoes in equal-size chunks and fry until tender. Leave them to cool a little and then cut them into 1cm dice.

Cook the onion until soft, add the garlic and cook for a further 3 minutes. Mix in the chorizo and potato, turn up the heat and fry for another 5 minutes. Mix in the thyme and season.

Assemble all the rest of the quesadilla ingredients. Spread a quarter of the chorizo mixture on one half of a tortilla and sprinkle with a fistful of cheese.

Fold the tortilla over so that you have a half moon. Brush it with a little olive oil (so the tortilla doesn’t stick to the pan) and place in a hot, dry frying pan or griddle and cook until golden and crisp. Repeat with the remaining tortillas.

Cut into wedges and serve with your favourite table salsa. I find that a mix of extra mature English Cheddar and a little grated mozzarella makes the perfect cheese mix, with a good flavour and the right gooiness.

Mexican Food Made Simple by Thomasina Miers is published by Hodder & Stoughton, £20.