Fooooood

288. Ennio Morricone - "the Ecstasy of Gold" (from the Good, the Bad And the Ugly - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, United Artists Records, 1967)

So one day a studio decided to let Italians make that most quintessential of American movie genres, the Western, and it turned out they were amazing at it (not to mention at writing super-dramatic Western scores. In that spirit, our scientists took a quintessential Tex-Mex form, the quesadilla, and filled it with Italian goodness.

The Ecstasy of Cheese Quesadilla (alternately the Good, the Bad, and the Cheesy)

Ingredients:
1 tbsp olive oil (or olive oil spray)
1 12" tortilla (flour or corn works)
Some grated mozzarella (enough to mostly cover half a tortilla)
1 or 2 fresh sprigs of basil, chopped
1 or 2 deli slices of pepperoni, chopped (optional)
1 small roasted red pepper, chopped (optional)
1 or 2 marinated artichoke hearts, chopped (optional)

Coat the bottom of a frying pan in olive oil and heat. Next, place tortilla on pan, cover half of it with cheese, and sprinkle with basil and, if ya like the meat, pepperoni. Fold and cook on medium to high heat, and flip when the bottom side is a little crispy and the cheese has melted. Wait til the second side is crispy and then take it off and serve with some Italian-ish topping. I used alternating rays of roasted red peppers and marinated artichoke hearts, but I'd imagine others might prefer Olives or Parmesan Cheese.