Setting off on a road trip is perhaps the most exciting thing about the whole experience. The freedom, the wind in your hair, the unknown places you will go, the people you will meet, the day to day joys of pure adventure…but there are still practicalities to be considered to make that first day more enjoyable.

For example, you can definitely wait until day two to realise you forgot to pack salt, a pan or dishwashing soap. Plus, that lump on your head or elbow from moving waaay too fast in your new tiny space will have abated a little by then too, as will your (suddenly short) temper.

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Have some foresight and get this sucker made up and bagged for the road. It tastes better cold (not refrigerated) because trust me, day one does NOT need to be complicated further by cooking.

So plan ahead and pack up.

This recipe is a bit of a faff but not as much of a ball ache as making pastry and the potential for f*ck ups is waay less. PLUS, it makes two whole quiches so you can either snaffle both on the road or freeze one for when you get home and don’t have the energy to cook!

Ingredients

1 sweet potato

1 can of spinach or a block of frozen spinach…defrosted obviously

6 eggs

1/2 cup of cream or full fat milk

1 big tomato chopped into cubes (if you have it knocking about)

1 small log of goat cheese. You can use any cheese here really, either crumble it or grate it. If you are using cheddar I think 1 cup of grated will be enough

S&P

Directions

OK, heres the faff.

• Preheat your oven to 350F or 180C

• Thinly slice your sweet spud. I use a mandolin but if you don’t have one or are scared of losing a finger end just slice as thinly as is humanly possible with such a solid vegetable. I find that slicing them their longest way works better than circles if that makes sense, however Alex got me a ROUND sweet potato this time PFFT!? Stick your slices in a bowl and add a splash of olive oil to coat them. Get your hands in and give them a rub, it will make the next step easier.

• Layer the bottom of your quiche tins (I use two springform 8″ cake tins) with your sliced potato. I start with the long pieces that form the edges. Layer them so that it looks like it has a scalloped edge and then cover the bottom of the tin to cover all the gaps. The potato should bend if it is thin enough but if not don’t panic, I have a trick up my sleeve for this.

• Pop your layered tins in the oven and set a timer for 20 minutes. The trick to getting your potatoes to bend is to check them as they are cooking and give them a coax as they start to soften. Give them 5 mins and take a peep, if they are soft enough poke them into the edges where you can. Do this two or three times as you are making your filling.

• Make your filling by cracking all your eggs into a big bowl and whisking them well. Add S&P to taste, then add all the other ingredients, keeping back enough cheese to pop a few bits on the top of each quiche.

• Once your crusts are softened take them out of the oven and up the temperature to 375F or 200C.

• Pour your gross looking filling evenly between the two crusts and sprinkle the left over cheese on top. Note how the filling pushes the sweet potato up against the edges anyway and even if some of the filling seeps through its going to set anyway.

• Back in the oven to cook for around 30 minutes or until the egg is set in the middle. Remove from the oven and leave to stand for 5 minutes before trying to get it out of the tin…or, you can leave it in there until completely cooled and tip it out when it is solid.

And thats it. Simples. Low fat, vegetarian, easily packed and more easily eaten goodness. The only difficulty here is not eating it all before you even leave the house!

If it does make it to your first snack stop (hopefully a glorious one not a McDonalds carpark) one can enjoy it with a glass of chilled Pinot Gris…if you remembered the wine glasses 😉