Grandma’s Tomatenkuchen

Recipes my audience loves

A pastry base, a whole tin of tomato paste and whatever cheese is left in the fridge. My grandma never put tomato sauce on her pizza, and that's exactly why it was so good.

• Serves 4
• 30 minutes

Sliced, not grated

She sliced the cheese instead of grating it, so every bite tastes a little different. Knowing how frugal she was, it's also possible she just didn't own a grater. In summer she added fresh tomatoes on top, hence the name. With a green salad it was the perfect lunch.

The recipe

Ingredients

• 1 round sheet of shortcrust pastry (Kuchenteig)
• 300 to 400 g medium-hard to hard cheese, a mix of leftovers is ideal
• 1 small tin double-concentrated tomato paste, 100 to 150 g
• A handful of parsley, finely chopped
• Chives, finely chopped
• Salt and pepper

How to make it

1. Preheat the oven to 220 °C. Lay the pastry into a round tin and prick it with a fork.
2. Cut the cheese into thin slices.
3. Spread the tomato paste evenly over the pastry and layer the cheese on top. Add a little pepper.
4. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until the base is crisp and the cheese is melted and bubbling.
5. Scatter the chives and parsley over the top and serve, ideally with a green salad. It's also good cold.

Tomato paste, not tomato sauce. It's richer and stands up to aged Swiss cheese much better.

Any cheese works. Gruyère, Emmentaler, Vacherin, Appenzeller, whatever needs using up.