Yield: 2
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cooking Time: 25 minutes
Difficulty Level: Moderate
Ingredients:
For the stuffed zucchini cubes:
- 2 zucchinis, sliced
- 4 oz pappardelle noodles, cooked
- 4 oz halloumi cheese, cubed
- homemade hummus
For the homemade hummus:
- 8 oz dried chickpeas, soaked overnight
- 1 onion, diced
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- fresh cilantro & chopped parsley
- juice of ½ lemon
- salt & ground cumin to taste
For the pastrami quesadilla:
- 2 red onions, sliced
- 14 oz pastrami, cut into strips
- 8 oz tomato sauce
- ⅓ cup chili sauce
- 5 flour tortillas
- 2½ cups shredded mozzarella cheese
To garnish:
- yogurt dressing
- chili sauce
Instructions:
1. Cut the zucchinis vertically into ¼-inch thick slices. Salt the zucchini slices, let them sit for 5 minutes, place them on a flat, raised surface, and carefully press a hot oven rack down on them to give the zucchini a classic grilled look.
3. Fill 5 of the empty ice cube tray molds with a halloumi cheese cube and fill the other 5 with homemade hummus. For the homemade hummus, add the soaked chickpeas (it’s best to let them soak for up to 12 hours before), onion, garlic, cilantro, parsley, lemon juice, salt, pepper, and cumin to a blender and puree until smooth.
4. Fold the overlapping zucchini slices and pappardelle noodles in towards the center to close the cubes and divide the 10 stuffed pasta zucchini cubes between 2 skewers. Heat some olive oil in a pan over medium heat and cook the skewers until golden brown.
5. For the pastrami quesadilla, fry the red onion slices and pastrami strips in the still-warm pan and then stir in the tomato sauce and chili sauce. Place a flour tortilla on a baking tray lined with parchment paper, spread ¼ of the pastrami mixture over it, and sprinkle ½ cup of shredded mozzarella on top. Place a tortilla on top and continue layering, with the top layer being the last tortilla. Sprinkle the last ½ cup of shredded mozzarella on top, transfer the baking tray to a preheated oven, and cook at 350°F for 25 minutes.
