A wise man once said “life is like a sandwich – the more you add to it, the better it becomes”.

I’m writing this on a Sunday afternoon. Tom and I are still in our pyjamas and haven’t moved from the sofa for a few hours. It doesn’t feel like we’ve stuffed too much into the day…but we did stuff a lot in this sandwich.

We made it on Saturday afternoon and then headed out for the night – it meant we could have a lie in, and still have an instant lunch ready for friends on Sunday without having to do anything whatsoever.
This stuffed cob would also be a great for picnics. One of the advantages is that everything’s brilliantly contained, so it solves the age-old problem of sandwich fillings dropping out and leaving you with an empty bread roll and dusty ham scratching about at the bottom of your rucksack.

Method
Imagine that you’re carving a pumpkin, and cut a lid in a good cob loaf. Scrape out all the innards, and put this to one side – the bread insides don’t get used in the recipe, so maybe make (and freeze) some breadcrumbs to avoid waste.

Spread a thin layer of pesto round the inside of the cob, and then start layering the ingredients. This can be pretty much anything in your store cupboard. I left it up to Tom to choose the filling. Despite claiming to be on a weight-loss mission, he went for salami, cream cheese, parma ham, cream cheese, spinach, sun-dried tomatoes, salami, cream cheese then spinach.

Put the top on the cob, and then wrap it in cling film. Put it on a plate in the fridge, and use something to weigh it down– a cast iron casserole lid would be good. I used the base of a cake tin pressed down with my scale’s weights. Leave it for at least four hours – overnight is great.

Just before you’re going to eat the cob, pop it in an oven at 180C for five minutes just to warm up the outside of the cob.

Slice and enjoy!