Midsommar Meal: My Lazy Swedish Cheese Pie aka Västerbottenostpaj Recipe When You Don't Have Västerbottenost

Recently it was midsommar or midsummer (aka longest day of the year) - which is well and truly celebrated in Scandinavian countries - and rightly so! It is a fine thing to acknowledge that summer is well and truly upon us. 

Particularly with Covid still causing havoc around the world, it is a reminder to celebrate with family and friends while we have the freedom to! 

Having lived with a bunch of Swedish girls during uni, I like to think I am pretty well versed in the tradition, even having had the privilege to experience a magical "make-belief midsommar" and learnt how to make the beautiful flower crowns

One thing I hadn't learned yet, was how to make the midsommar classic: Västerbottenostpaj - translating to Västerbottenost (cheese) pie.

Upon research I discovered Västerbottenost is a special kind of Swedish hard cheese: very tangy and moreish and described as a bit of a mix of parmesan and gouda. 

Well I had never seen Västerbottenost at my local supermarket and I didn't really have time to be hunting down a Swedish delicatessen here in Nuernberg, so I did some research for substitutes - had this confirmed by my Swedish friend - and went about making up my own, lazy version of this scrumptious pie.



Full Disclosure: I was in a bit of a hurry making this and the 28cm wide cake "spring form" tin I used was a bit wider or deeper than what the original recipe stated, so my pie was only half full. 

I knew with the eggs it would rise, but as it does have a bit of a souffle type texture, this would also collapse again, so I added a bit more of everything and reckon the below were the end measurements.

So while it is a quick, easy and lazy recipe, you best be able to judge for yourself whether your pie might still need some extra milk and cream, but you will have more time to get the table ready (my favourite part... ;) 


I was too lazy to make the pastry too, so I can highly recommend a roll of pre-made quiche pastry from the supermarket (Tante Fanny Quiche & Tarte-Teig / 300g). It is pre-cut into a circle so perfect for just plopping into a round tin.

PIE INGREDIENTS
  • Tante Fanny Quiche- & Tarte-Teig (comes chilled in a rolled up 300g circular sheet)
  • 250g grated Gouda
  • 250g grated Cheddar 
  • 4 large free range eggs
  • 150ml full fat milk
  • 300ml double cream
  • 1 teaspoon Cayenne pepper
  • salt and pepper to taste

Step 1 Preheat oven to 180 Degrees Celsius and place a baking tray in the oven to heat up. Line a round, loose bottom tart or cake tin with baking paper. 

Step 2 Take the pastry out of the fridge approx 10 mins before using it, in the meantime make the filling by mixing all the ingredients together, stirring in the grated cheese in last.

Step 3 Gently spread the round sheet of pastry into the lined/buttered tin, lightly pressing the sides to ensure it doesn't rip and pour the filling in.

Step 4 Bake for 35-45 minutes until the filling has puffed up, the pastry and the top of the pie golden (use a spoon to gently push on top of the pie to test the wiggliness - if runny egg still comes up, give it another few minutes and repeat this test until no more runny egg comes up. 

Step 6 Remove from the oven and leave to cool. The pie rises quite a bit during baking and then collapses a bit again giving it that "crackled" looking texture on the top. Serve in slices with crème fraîche, chopped red onion and optional red caviar or lumpfish roe. 



skål & glad midsommar!

Yours truly,
Fräulein SoulFood x

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