Gemüsekuchen (savoury vegetable tray bake)
A quick baking-powder dough rather than yeast, pressed straight into the tin and topped with a mixed vegetable sauté under a cheese custard. It is on the table faster than a yeasted Zwiebelkuchen and works as well cold from the fridge the next day as it does warm.
Prep25 min
Cook40 min
Oven190°C
Servings8
Christoph's quick vegetable tray bake, using a baking-powder dough rather than yeast so it is genuinely faster than a Zwiebelkuchen without losing the same appeal.
Ingredients
Written for a 28 × 22 cm baking sheet
Units
Temperature
Servings
Dough
- 250 g flour rounded
- 10 g baking powder rounded
- 4 g fine salt rounded
- 70 ml neutral oil rounded
- 1 egg rounded
- 90 ml milk rounded
Vegetable topping
- 15 ml neutral oil rounded
- 150 g onion, chopped rounded
- 150 g carrot, peeled, in small dice rounded
- 150 g red bell pepper, in small dice rounded
- 150 g zucchini, in small dice rounded
- 100 g frozen peas, not thawed rounded
Custard
- 4 eggs rounded
- 150 ml cream rounded
- 100 g Gouda, grated rounded
- to taste freshly grated nutmeg rounded
- to taste freshly ground black pepper rounded
Dietary labels are a guide, not a guarantee. If you have an allergy, read the ingredients yourself.
Method
- Whisk the flour, baking powder and salt together. Whisk the oil, egg and milk together separately, then combine the two into a soft dough. Press evenly into a lined sheet pan, about 28 by 22 cm.
- Heat the oil in a large pan and sweat the onion and carrot with a pinch of salt for 6 minutes. Add the bell pepper and zucchini and cook for 4 more minutes, until just starting to soften but not fully cooked through. Stir in the frozen peas off the heat; they will finish cooking in the oven.
- Scatter the vegetables evenly over the dough.
- Whisk the eggs, cream, half the cheese, nutmeg and pepper together, then pour evenly over the vegetables. Scatter the remaining cheese on top.
- Bake at 190°C for 35 to 40 minutes, until a skewer into the dough comes out clean and the custard is fully set with barely any give.
- Rest 10 minutes before cutting into squares.
Method in the Thermomix
Written for a TM5 or TM6, 2.2 litre bowl. This covers the vegetable sauté; the dough and baking are the same as the hand method.
- Onion and carrot into the dry bowl, in rough pieces. Chop 3 sec / speed 4.
- Add the oil. Sauté 6 min / 120 °C / speed 1, measuring cup off.
- Add the bell pepper and zucchini, roughly chopped. Sauté 4 min / 120 °C / reverse / speed 1, measuring cup off, until just starting to soften.
- Stir in the frozen peas. Mix 5 sec / reverse / speed 1, no heat. Scatter over the dough and continue as in the hand method.
Notes
- Undercook the vegetables slightly before they go on the dough. They finish cooking in the oven under the custard, and fully cooked vegetables going in end up mushy by the time the tart is done.
- This dough needs no proving, which is the whole point of using baking powder instead of yeast; mix it and use it straight away.
- It is very good cold or at room temperature the next day, which makes it a good lunchbox option, unlike most yeasted savoury bakes.
- It keeps for 3 days in the fridge, covered, and reheats well in a moderate oven for 10 minutes.
Ingredient substitutions
- Any mixed vegetables in similar total weight work here; corn, mushrooms or courgette in place of any of the listed vegetables is a reasonable swap.
- Gouda can be any semi-hard melting cheese; a sharper cheddar gives a stronger flavour.
- For a dairy-free version, use oat cream in place of the cream and a plant-based cheese, or omit the cheese and season more assertively.
- A pinch of smoked paprika in the custard is a good, simple addition if a little more depth is wanted.
From Christoph Mayer