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Zapiekanka
Kraków's open baguette with mushrooms and melted cheese
Zapiekanka is Polish street food born in the 1970s and perfected at the hatch windows around Plac Nowy in Kraków's Kazimierz district, where students and night owls queue for one at midnight. Half a long baguette is topped with mushrooms fried with onion, covered in grated cheese and baked until crisp at the edges and bubbling, then finished with a zigzag of ketchup and chives. The classic version has no meat at all. Use a hard cheese made with vegetarian rennet (many supermarket mild Cheddars and Goudas are). Chef's tip: fry the mushrooms until completely dry before they go on the bread; wet mushrooms make the baguette soggy instead of crisp.
- Total time
- 20 min
- Difficulty
- easy
- Serves
- 2
Ingredients
Optional extras
Method
0/5 doneStep 1: Heat the oven to 425°F (400°F fan) with the grill element on if you have one.
Step 2: Melt ⅔ oz butter in a frying pan over a medium-high heat. Fry 1 onion for 3 minutes, then add 9 oz button mushrooms with ¼ tsp salt and ¼ tsp black pepper and cook for 6–7 minutes, stirring, until all the liquid has gone and the mushrooms sizzle and start to brown.
10 minStep 3: Cut 1 baguette in half crosswise and then lengthwise to get 4 long halves. Spread the mushrooms over the cut sides right to the edges, then cover thickly with 4 oz mild hard cheese such as Gouda or Edam.
Step 4: Bake on a tray on the top shelf for 7–9 minutes, until the cheese is bubbling with golden spots and the edges of the bread are crisp and brown.
9 minStep 5: Squeeze a zigzag of 3 tbsp tomato ketchup along each one, scatter with 1 tbsp chives and add 2 pickled cucumbers or 2 tbsp garlic sauce if you like. Eat hot.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 620 kcal
- Protein
- 24 g
- Carbs
- 78 g
- Fat
- 24 g
- Fibre
- 5 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does zapiekanka take?
- About 20 minutes in total: 8 minutes to prepare and 12 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 2 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegetarian?
- Yes. It has no meat or fish.
- What can I use instead of butter?
- The same weight of ghee or coconut oil (for frying and most baking).
- What can I use instead of onion?
- 2 shallots per onion.
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