Shrimp and Chorizo Quesadillas with Smoky Guacamole

As I was planning this week’s menu, I just happened to stumble across this recipe of Rachael Ray’s on the Food Network’s website. I decided it sounded delicious so I put it on this week’s menu. Turned out I couldn’t wait to make them so I made them the very first night of the week. Alex RAVED about these. He insisted that these be made over and over again in the future.  I thought they were very very tasty but unfortunately there was one thing holding back my enjoyment of them. I made the very stupid mistake of actually reading what all goes into Chorizo. Don’t ever make this mistake if you think you like Chorizo like I did. The ingredients were disgusting and I just couldn’t seem to get over it. It even went so far as to make me almost gag when I was eating the delicious quesadillas, not because they didn’t taste great but because I kept thinking about what all was in the chorizo. Yuck! I really don’t know if I’ll ever to be able to eat the delicious mexican sausage again. Boooo! I will definitely make these again in the future but I will make mine with just the shrimp and the cheese. I think they would still be delicious this way but Alex refuses to let me leave the chorizo out of his quesadillas in the future (apparently the ingredient list didn’t affect him the way it did me). I also really like the Guacamole but Alex says he likes his version of Guacamole better…go figure.

Shrimp and Chorizo Quesadillas with Smoky Guacamole

Source: Rachael Ray’s 30 Minute Meals

2 ripe Haas avocados
1 lime, juiced
A couple pinches salt
1/4 cup sour cream, 3 rounded tablespoonfuls
2 chipotle peppers in adobo, available in cans on specialty food aisle in Mexican section
1/2 pound chorizo sausage, sliced thin on an angle
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, plus some for drizzling
1 clove garlic, cracked away from skin and crushed
12 large shrimp, peeled and deveined, tails removed, ask for easy-peels at fish counter
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 (12- inch) flour tortillas
1/2 pound, 2 cups, shredded pepper Jack cheese

Cut avocados all the way around with a sharp knife. Scoop out the pit, then spoon avocado flesh away from skin into a food processor. Add the juice of 1 lime, a couple of pinches salt, sour cream and chipotles in adobo. Pulse guacamole until smooth. Transfer to a serving bowl.Heat a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Brown chorizo 2 to 3 minutes, then remove from pan. Add oil, garlic, then shrimp. Season shrimp with salt and pepper and cook shrimp until pink, 2 or 3 minutes. Transfer shrimp to a cutting board and coarsely chop.

Add a drizzle of oil to the pan and a large tortilla. Cook tortilla 30 seconds, then turn. Cover 1/2 of the tortilla with a couple of handfuls of cheese. Arrange a layer of chorizo and shrimp over the cheese and fold tortilla over. Press down gently with a spatula and cook tortilla a minute or so on each side to melt cheese and crisp. Remove quesadilla to large cutting board and repeat with remaining ingredients. Cut each quesadilla into 5 wedges and transfer to plates with your spatula. Top wedges of quesadillas with liberal amounts of smoky guacamole.

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