Whenever I do road trips that will entail more than 300 miles of driving I create a pretty specific itinerary for rest stops, fuel stops, lunch stop (usually all these three in one go) but never for a snack stop. Hence, I always pack my go-to road trip snack which is delicious, easy to make, not messy, and that which I can manage to eat by myself- unassisted. My Sharp Cheddar Cheese Pimiento Crisp-Wich! — the best take on snacking on a sandwich and your favorite chips in one go.
History says that the first crisp sandwich was invented by an Irish mother of 18 children, Noreen O’ Neill in 1961 but she insisted that she was no genius inventor because in those days you just had to make do with what you have to feed 18 kids. I agree because I never heard of a crisp sandwich before when I decided to do my “crisp-wich” (though for a different reason) when I was in High School. My daily morning recess then was always a sandwich and a tiny bag of chips (or crisp as the British people call it). Our recess time was so quick that alternately biting on my sandwich, chewing and picking chips and then chewing was taking too much time. So I thought maybe if I just put the chips in between my sandwich, I would save time and when I did it, the first bite was just heaven! It is interesting to note too that I’ve met some people who did the same thing at one point in their young lives. The Crisp-Wich is so versatile , there are just endless possibilities/combinations. Here’s my version.
Just Three Items to Remember
My Sharp Cheddar Cheese Pimiento Crisp-Wich basically just needs Soft White Bread , Potato Chips and very good Cheese Pimiento Spread .
Soft white bread. 
Your favorite crisps/chips. 
Very good sharp cheese pimiento spread.
My Sharp Cheddar Cheese Pimiento Spread
(Just Three Ingredients to Buy)
The secret to a really good tasting cheese spread is really good tasting butter and cheese. I am not a fan of masking my cheese with mayonnaise or cream cheese as others do because I prefer the solid taste of a very very sharp cheddar cheese made spreadable with only the velvety goodness of butter with high fat content. Yup this is much tastier than a vegetable spread believe me.
250g Cheese 
200-225g Butter 
150-175g Red Bell Pepper (drained weight) 
Grated 
Softened 
Minced
CHEESE: I recommend Mainland Vintage Aged Cheddar or any extra sharp cheddar cheese like Cabot. Do not attempt to use Velveeta or Quick Melt Cheese. The crumblier the better. Very hard cheese like Parmesan or Edam do not work for me because I do not want my cheese finely grated and it takes awhile to do. Soft cheese won’t work either.
BUTTER: I recommend spreadable butter if you wish to use the spread straight from the refrigerator as it takes the awhile for the regular butter to soften. This tends to melt easily though during warm weather. I personally prefer using regular butter for road trips because it stays chunky for hours . I just bring it out from the refrigerator 20 minutes before I use it.
CANNED PIMIENTO: I recommend the canned or bottled pimiento because raw bell pepper well, is just too raw to blend with the buttery spread.
CRISP/CHIPS: I recommend the thick cut potato chips because they are not too hard to coarsely crush and not too thin to avoid getting soggy from the spread. Warning: Crisps/Chips must be assembled on the day of your road trip.
BREAD: I recommend only soft bread because hard breads like batards or rustic breads will be too overpowering for the soft spread and way too crumby. Soft white bread or American Loaf is best because they tend to hug the crisp/chip snuggly with the spread. Do not trim the edges please because that will be too wasteful. You may also slightly toast the bread before assembling but I still recommend un-toasted bread.
ASSEMBLY: Easy as 1,2,3
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NOTES:
- You can prepare the spread ahead of time. Just soften it before assembling the sandwich.
- Assemble the sandwich on the day of your road trip. A day-old Crisp-Wich is no good.
- Use a sandwich sleeve instead of wrapping your Crisp-Wich so it will be easier to push the sandwich up and down while driving. It will catch any crumbs that may fall.
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