They say that necessity is the mother of invention. When it comes to developing new recipes, I find that there’s no greater incentive than to look in the fridge at the end of the week and wonder what on earth I’m  going to do with all of those odd leftovers and vegetable orphans. No one can afford to waste food these days and there’s really no need to, it simply takes a little imagination. I just pretend I’m doing the invention test on Masterchef and that’s how ‘Friday Pie’, came into being. It’s delicious with a tomato salad or green vegetables and will easily feed four to six people.

You will need ……

• 8.5 inch or 21cm Springform tin or a deep sided baking dish, one that won’t leak.
• 800g cooked new potatoes, thinly sliced.
• 200g (about 6 slices) of cooked ham torn into pieces.
• 150g Emmental or another good melting cheese. I use slices and tear it into pieces. You could grate it if it’s in a block.
• A handful of grated cheddar.
• 6 eggs
• 150ml carton of sour cream or double cream.
• Sea salt
• 2 dessertspoons of wholegrain mustard
• Ground black pepper
• 15 g butter

To make……

• Preheat the oven to 160C.
• Liberally grease the base and sides of the tin with butter – this is important or you’ll find the washing up a chore!
• Layer the buttered tin with half the sliced potatoes, then create a middle layer with the ham and cheese until it’s all used up. Layer that with the rest of the potatoes.
• Break the eggs into a mixing bowl, season well with sea salt, pepper and the mustard. Add the cream and whisk everything together thoroughly.
• Pour the egg and cream mixture over the potato layers. Give it a little jiggle to make sure that it’s evenly spread. Sprinkle the top with grated cheese.
• Place the tin on a baking sheet (even a Springform tin can leak a little sometimes and you don’t want that burning on the bottom of your oven!) and bake for an hour so that it is properly cooked all the way through. It may take a little longer depending on your oven. Once it’s cooked through (a stick of uncooked spaghetti makes a good test prod – if it comes out with the egg mixture clinging to it not running off it, it’s cooked), turn on the grill element so that the cheese crust is bubbling and brown on top.
• Once cooked, take it out of the oven and allow it to cool on a plate for a few minutes. Open the sides of the Springform and slide it off the base.
• Slice into it like a cake and tuck in!