Cheese quesadilla strips

Name: Cheese quesadilla strips
Total time: 10 min
Yield: 5 or 6 narrow strips (a baby portion is 1 or 2)
Ingredients: 1 medium (about 20 cm / 8 in) soft flour tortilla; 25 g (¼ cup) finely grated hard cheese

A thin flour tortilla with a little melted, pasteurized cheese, warmed until soft and cut into strips. Contains milk and wheat: offer it once your baby has had dairy and wheat each on their own.

From: 6 months
Time: 10 min
Makes: 5 or 6 narrow strips (a baby portion is 1 or 2)

Contains milkContains wheat

Ingredients

1 medium (about 20 cm / 8 in)soft flour tortillacompare labels and choose a lower-salt one
25 g (¼ cup)finely grated hard cheesepasteurized and full-fat. The NHS suggests choosing lower-salt cheese, and salt varies between cheeses, so compare labels

Steps

1Wash your hands. Check the cheese label says it's made from pasteurized milk, then grate it finely.
2Warm a dry frying pan over medium-low heat. Lay the tortilla in the pan and sprinkle a thin, even layer of cheese over one half. Fold the other half over and press gently.
3Cook for about 1 to 2 minutes on each side, until the cheese has melted and the tortilla is warm and soft. Keep the heat low: take it off before the tortilla turns crisp or brown.
4Slide it onto a board and let it cool for a few minutes. Melted cheese holds heat, so check the middle is only just warm before serving.
5Cut it into strips. Squash one between your thumb and finger: the tortilla should be soft and bendy, not crisp. Check the cheese has melted completely, with no firm lumps or long stretchy strings, and cut any strings short. Trim off any crisp edges.

How to serve it by age

6 months+

Once your baby has had dairy and wheat each on their own without a reaction, offer one or two narrow strips about the size of an adult finger, roughly 6–8 cm long and 2 cm wide (2½–3 × ¾ in). Tortilla is chewy, so keep the strips narrow and the cheese layer thin. Keep your baby's portion to one or two strips: a whole quesadilla made with cheddar has about 1.3 g of salt, and the NHS says babies under 1 should have less than 1 g a day.

9 months+

Cut the quesadilla into pieces no bigger than about 1 cm (just under ½ inch) for pincer-grasp practice, or keep offering narrow strips.

12 months+

Serve narrow strips or bite-sized pieces about 1 cm (just under ½ inch) with soft-cooked vegetables, mashed beans or mashed avocado to dip.

If your baby reacts

This recipe contains milk, wheat. Introduce one new allergen at a time, mixed into a food your baby already eats, before serving it in a dish with other new foods. Contact your pediatrician, GP or health visitor if you notice mild signs after eating, such as a few hives or a little vomiting. See signs of a reaction.

Call 911999your local emergency number (such as 112 in Europe or 000 in Australia) now if your baby has trouble breathing, wheezing, can't cough or cry, has lips, mouth, tongue or throat that suddenly swell, or becomes pale, bluish, floppy or unresponsive. Also call if hives come with repeated vomiting.

Leftovers and the rest of the family

Storing it

Best made fresh, because the tortilla firms up as it cools. Leftovers keep in a covered container in the fridge for 3 to 4 days, or freeze them for 3 to 4 months (wrap each one well). Reheat only once, until steaming hot, 165°F (74°C), then let them cool and check they're still soft before serving. Throw away anything left in your baby's bowl. Don't leave quesadillas at room temperature for more than 2 hours, or 1 hour if it's hotter than 90°F (32°C).

For the grown-ups

Make your baby's quesadilla first, then add mashed beans, sliced peppers, salsa or chili to larger ones for the rest of the family. Tortillas and cheese both contain salt, so keep this as an occasional meal for babies rather than an everyday one.