This recipe is a simple one and contains gooey cheese, so they’re comforting when you tuck into them. These are hot little pockets of carbohydrate, protein, fat, and salt. All things your expedition body is crying out for, however the core ingredients do lack a bit in the vegetable department.

Ingredients

This is a recipe that you can do with relatively shelf-stable ingredients, or you can substitute in fresh ingredients to pack in those micronutrients. The approximate amounts are for two people.

Core Ingredients

The core ingredients are the wraps and the cheese to stick them together. This amount should feed 2

6-12 x 20 cm Wraps - The wrap is going to be the carbs, and method for getting the mixture into your face. Make sure you get wraps that are going to remain supple even if they get left in a warm place, and it is worth searching out the longer shelf life ones. We have also found that smaller wraps make this recipe easier to manage in an expedition size pan.
2 x Tablespoons Vegetable Oil - You will likely need more oil than you first think to fry off the spices. Probably a couple of tablespoons.
1 x Shelf Stable Spicy Sausage - We have found that a sausage that is packed with flavour works best, regardless if it is animal-based or otherwise.
Grated Cheese - This is to hold the two wraps together. Probably a handful per quesadilla
Tomato Pureé - This packs a load of flavour, and also adds in a bit of acid to cut through the richness. About a tablespoon per quesadilla can work well.

Optional Ingredients

Now this is where you can start experimenting. Some ingredients we have found that work well in this dish:

Mushrooms - Dried works really well.
Bell peppers - Fresh or dehydrated.
Onions - Fresh or dehydrated.
Sriracha Sauce - We have found the little squeezy bottles of this work well if you are cooking for many people who want different levels of spice in their meal.
Dried Mixed Herbs - for a little extra flavour.

Cooking Equipment

Due to the relatively simple nature of the method there are not many bits of equipment that you need.

Camping stove - Something that has a controllable heat is preferable. Although possible over a spirit burner it is a bit more of a challenge to not weld food to the bottom of the frying pan.
Large frying pan - A pan big enough to fit the size of wraps that you are looking to fry in.
Knife - Almost anything that has an edge on will do, though this is only needed if your ingredients need to be made smaller. Believe it or not we have managed to do this recipe out in the wilderness without needing to use a knife.
Cutting surface - Something that can be cut onto without damaging you or your knife blade, again only needed if you are using fresh vegetables or a lump of protein.

Method

This is a relatively simple recipe with only really one thing that you have to watch out for.

If you have any fresh vegetables cut up into as thin slices as possible. The smaller the pieces the quicker the vegetables will cook. In saying that, they will not really cook, so much as warm through.
If you have any dehydrated vegetables, boil sufficient water to rehydrate the vegetables, then pop them in and wait a few minutes until they’re soft and slightly larger in size. Once hydrated, separate the vegetables from the water. The water can be used with a packet soup to make a tasty starter.
Cut up your protein into as thin slices as possible.
Assemble a quesadilla. This involves taking a wrap, spreading some tomato pureé over it, placing your thinly cut sausage and vegetables on top, followed with a handful of grated cheese, and finishing with a second wrap. You can make these all up first and stack them, or sort them as you go, depending on space.
Place your frying pan over a low heat, add a tablespoon of oil.
Once the oil is hot, but not smoking, add your assembled quesadilla. Fry for a few minutes, you know when it is time to flip when you can poke the quesadilla from the top with a fish slice and feel that the cheese has started to melt.
Flip the quesadilla and fry the other side. At this point you are waiting for the wrap to get that lovely crispy finish.
Remove from the frying pan, cut into quarters as this should be a good hand size, and enjoy while hot.

Trail tips

Try to keep your fillings about 2cm (¾ inch) from the edges of your wraps to stop leakage during frying. This not only makes it easier to flip them but also reduces the difficulty of cleaning up.

Getting flavoured wraps can be a nice way of adding another dimension into your meal.

If you cannot get a spiced sausage then any shelf stable sausage can do with a dash of hot sauce or sprinkling of spices.

This tends to be quite a chilled meal with quesadillas coming off the stove every few minutes. As they are best while warm we will usually cut them into quarters and eat whilst the next one is cooking.

Quesadillas