Roasted vegetable quesadillas with melted mozzarella

This recipe is a wonderful example of how the griddle and grill rack can be used simultaneously to cope with a range of ingredients. Have a long griddle on one side of the grill rack for the onions and peppers; the aubergines can cook over the coals on the other side.

Prepare a barbecue. Once the flames have died down, position a lightly oiled grill rack over the hot coals to heat. When the coals are hot to medium-hot, or with a light to moderate coating of ash, heat a griddle until a few drops of water sprinkled on the surface evaporate instantly.

Toss the peppers, onions and aubergines in the oil on a large baking tray. Place the peppers, skin-side down, on the griddle or directly on the grill rack and cook until seared and browned underneath. If the food starts to char, remove the griddle until the coals cool down. Put the peppers in a bowl, cover with clear film (plastic wrap) and set aside.

Grill the onions and aubergines until they have softened slightly and are branded with brown grill marks and then set them aside. Rub the skins off the peppers with your fingers, cut each piece in half and add to the other vegetables.

Cut the mozzarella into 20 slices. Place them, along with the roasted vegetables, into a large bowl and add the chilies and tomato sauce. Stir well to mix and season with salt and pepper to taste. Place the griddle over a medium heat and cook all the tortillas on one side only.

Lay a tortilla on the griddle, cooked-side up, and pile about a quarter of the vegetable mixture into the centre of the tortilla. Scatter over some basil leaves. When the tortilla browns underneath, put another tortilla on top, cooked-side down. Carefully turn the quesadilla over using a wide pizza server with tubular handle and continue to cook until the underside has browned and the cheese just starts to melt. Remove from the pan with the pizza server and serve immediately, or wrap in foil to keep warm while you cook the remaining quesadillas.

Serves 6-8
1 yellow and 1 orange (bell) pepper, each quartered and seeded
2 red (bell) peppers, quartered and seeded
2 red onions cut into wedges with root intact
8 long baby aubergines (eggplant), total weight
About 175g/6oz,
Halved lengthways
30ml/2 tbsp olive oil
400g/14oz block mozzarella cheese
2 fresh green chilies, seeded and sliced into rounds
15ml/1 tbsp Mexican tomato sauce
8 com or wheat flour tortillas
Handful of fresh basil leaves
Salt and ground black pepper