PEPPERS, AUBERGINES, ONIONS AND COURGETTES COOKED IN FOIL WITH FETA CHEESE

Ratatouille, sort of. Better still, the Spanish dish of escalivada, which is traditionally cooked in the embers of the fire from the night before to eat the following day. Slicing all the vegetables and wrapping them in foil to bake in the embers is easy as far as camping cooking goes, giving you enough time to make a good, rich tomato sauce, flavoured with dried oregano, into which you can then heave all the softened, steamed-in-their-own-juices vegetables and scatter with a good amount of feta. Chilli flakes, good olive oil and some crusty bread wouldn’t go amiss to serve.

Preparation 25 minutes Cooking 30 minutes Serves 4

2 ONIONS, VERY THINLY SLICED

1 LARGE AUBERGINE, HALVED LENGTHWAYS, SLICED INTO 1CM HALF MOONS

4 COURGETTES, SLICED INTO 1CM ROUNDS

2 RED PEPPERS, DESEEDED AND QUARTERED GENEROUS AMOUNT OF OLIVE OIL

4 GARLIC CLOVES, VERY THINLY SLICED

1 X 400G TIN CHOPPED TOMATOES

1 TSP DRIED OREGANO

1 X 200G PACKET OF FETA, CRUMBLED, TO SERVE

1 Preheat the grill or barbecue to hot or use the red-hot embers of the fire.

2 One kind at a time, toss the vegetables each in about 2 tbsp olive oil and season with salt and black pepper. Get 4 squares of heavy-duty foil, or use a double layer of standard foil, and wrap each type of chopped vegetable – onions, aubergine, courgettes and peppers – in a loose-fitting but well-sealed parcel.

3 Place the parcels directly into a moderate-low heat source, in the embers or at the edges of a grill or barbecue, and cook for 25-30 minutes, until the vegetables are tender – the aubergine should need the longest (you might need an extra 10 minutes).

4 Meanwhile, cook the garlic in a pan with 2 tbsp olive oil over a moderate heat for 2 minutes, then add the tomatoes and oregano and cook for 10-15 minutes, until rich and thick. Season to taste.

5 With the vegetables all cooked, unwrap the parcels, tip them into the hot sauce and mix well, adding the feta and more olive oil to serve.