Meatball Quesadillas

What can I say? The Sons love meatballs, son # 2 especially. For years and years, he asked for spaghetti and meatballs every single day. The sons also love quesadillas. So far, they’ve all loved all the different fillings I’ve come up with in the past. We’ve done cheeseburger, pizzadillas, and every type of tex mex version you can imagine. I’ve even gotten them to scarf down (AND ask for seconds) hickory smoked tuna filled quesadillas on whole wheat tortillas. While this beautiful hybrid treat was bound to happen eventually, it first occurred as an emergency dinner.

 

See there was this one night when Son # 4 suggested meatball subs for dinner. I thought that was a grand idea since I was already behind, and was totally un-inspired that day. It had nothing at all to do with the adorable way he said it into my shoulder in a rare moment of big boy snuggles. Nope, nothing at all. I thought it was perfect, especially since I knew I had some sub rolls in the chest freezer from our last grocery trip. I just knew I those suckers in there. Meatball subs were calling our names!

Those of your with teeneagers, teenage boys, boys know where this is going. Dinner time. Everything ready. No subs to be found, and everybody was all too ready to tell Mom it wasn’t them. They hadn’t had any hero sandwiches for snacks. Oh no. Wouldn’t that be too much for them to eat for snack? Let alone before Mom noticed?

Me thinks though doth protest too much!

Luckily for me, and for them, I hadn’t opened (which meant they hadn’t yet gotten into or messed with) a pack of tortillas I’d grabbed. We’ve had spaghetti grilled cheese, and we all love spaghetti and meatball sub sandwiches, so I figured a quesadilla with an Italian filling couldn’t turn out too bad and went full steam ahead.

These little things were so good. Lip smackin, no talking cause you’re too busy chewing kinda good.

Whether you’re looking for a game day appetizer, or an entree, you can’t go wrong with a meatball stuffed quesadilla.

Just look at that crispy shell, oozing with melted mozzarella?!

Meatball Quesadillas

1 14oz bag frozen meatballs, thawed and cut in half
1 24 oz jar spaghetti sauce, any flavor
2-3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
10+ flour tortillas

Directions

1. Spray a skillet with non-stick cooking spray.
2. Place a tortilla half-way into the pan. Just allow the other half to drape over the edge.
3. Sprinkle half of the tortilla with cheese, then place the meatball halves randomly all over the cheese.
4. Spoon the spaghetti sauce over top, maybe two tablespoons per quesadilla.
5. Sprinkle with more cheese.
6. Fold the second half of the tortilla over top of the filling, closing it.
7. Heat on medium until the bottom of the tortilla gets crispy and the cheese on the bottom layer is nice and melted.
8. Carefully, and using spatulas (I use two: one to hold it closed and another to flip) flip the quesadilla onto it’s other side, cooking (again) until the tortilla is nice and crisp on that side and the cheese is melted.
9. Remove the cooked quesadilla to a plate, and continue cooking more quesadillas as needed. Use a pizza cutter to cut it into slices (easier for little AND big hands to eat).
10. Repeat until everyone is fed and serve with a side of marinara sauce, or just enjoy them as is.

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