Deborah Ryan’s Quesadilla recipe

When my sister moved to Manchester for university, she quickly learned about student budgeting. A tiny corner shop on her street sold all of their cheap alcohol, including £3 wine that tasted like vinegar. It also sold £1 frozen pizzas. These cardboard-like pizzas not only became a desperate staple as her money dwindled but also acted as the basis for all of her budgeting. If she spent £10 out on dinner, that’s ten days of pizza she could have had in the comfort of her dingy student accommodation. At least, that was her logic.

Now when she comes to visit, sick of the sight of pizza but still craving cheese, we tend to make these quesadillas. We’ll have them either for lunch or, if we have a few friends over for pre-drinks, as the ideal vessel for cheese. They’ll cook in the background while we get on with our £3 equivalent wine. Lately, I’ve been making this recipe, but feel free to make an abridged version with whatever you like. Get creative with the flavours; if you have some vegetables or leftover cooked meat in the fridge, this is a good way to use those up.

Preheat the oven to 200°c. Wrap the whole sweet potato tightly in tin foil and pop it into the oven. Bake until completely soft when pressed, around 40 minutes.

In the meantime mash the avocado for the guacamole. Cut the cherry tomatoes into quarters and add to the avocado with the lime juice, coriander if using, salt and pepper. Set aside.

When the sweet potato is almost cooked, rinse the black beans in a colander until the water runs clear. Heat a pan with a tablespoon of olive oil and add the garlic and spices. Fry for a few seconds then add the black beans and cook for a few minutes. I use the back of a spoon to crush the beans slightly.

Take the sweet potato out of the oven, let it cool for a few minutes then remove from the foil carefully - watch out for the escaping steam. Cut in half and scoop out the flesh. Add to the black beans and mash it all together with the wooden spoon. Add some salt and pepper.

At this point, realise that you’ve used a frying pan instead of a more suitable saucepan for the sweet potato and now need the frying pan to toast the quesadillas. Transfer the sweet potato to the only clean saucepan you have and place it on the back of the hob to keep warm.

Think about how you now have to clean this frying pan and if, your gaff is like mine, begrudgingly wait for the water to heat up. Make some tea to keep you going, then procrastinate and scroll through Twitter.

Finally get back on the horse. Clean that frying pan, down your slightly too hot beverage and keep cooking.

Moving on, place one wrap on the bottom of the frying pan, on medium heat. Spread a layer of the sweet potato on top and sprinkle on a healthy layer of cheese. Sandwich it with another wrap and leave it for a few minutes until the bottom has browned and becomes crispy.

Lay a dinner plate upside down on top of the frying pan and flip over, so the quesadilla is now on the plate. Put the frying pan back on the heat and slide the quesadilla back in to toast the other side. Once golden brown, slide back on the plate and cut in to wedges. Repeat the process on the next one. Serve with the guacamole.

Tip: if you have some leftover sweet potato/black bean mixture, keep it in the fridge for tomorrow's dinner.