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Matpakke (Norwegian packed lunch)
Stacked open sandwiches of brown bread with cheese, brown cheese and jam
Nearly every Norwegian child carries a matpakke to school: slices of wholemeal bread, each with one simple topping, stacked with sheets of sandwich paper in between and wrapped in a neat parcel. Yellow cheese, sweet caramel-like brown cheese (brunost) and jam are the classics, with cucumber or pepper sticks on the side; liver paste is the meaty favourite. It is plain, filling and built to survive a school bag. It contains gluten (wheat) and milk. Chef's tip: keep wet toppings like tomato out of the stack; they make the bread soggy by lunchtime.
- Total time
- 10 min
- Difficulty
- easy
- Serves
- 2
Ingredients
- 6 slices wholemeal bread
- ½ oz buttersoftened
- 1 ⅜ oz mild yellow cheesethinly sliced
- 1 oz Norwegian brown cheese (brunost)thinly sliced with a cheese slicer
- 2 tbsp strawberry or raspberry jam
- ¼ cucumbercut into sticks
- ½ red peppercut into sticks
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Method
0/5 doneStep 1: Spread each slice of 6 slices wholemeal bread thinly with ½ oz butter right to the edges. The butter keeps toppings from soaking in. Skipping the butter is the common mistake: the bread goes soggy by lunchtime.
Step 2: Top two slices with 1 ⅜ oz mild yellow cheese, two with 1 oz Norwegian brown cheese (brunost) and two with 2 tbsp strawberry or raspberry jam, spreading the jam a little thinner than you think so it doesn't squeeze out.
Step 3: Make two stacks of three slices, putting a sheet of sandwich or baking paper between each slice so the toppings don't stick together.
Step 4: Wrap each stack firmly in more paper and fold the ends under. Pack ¼ cucumber and ½ red pepper in a separate tub.
Step 5: Keep cool in the school bag with an ice pack and eat within 6 hours.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 390 kcal
- Protein
- 15 g
- Carbs
- 50 g
- Fat
- 15 g
- Fibre
- 7 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does matpakke (Norwegian packed lunch) take?
- About 10 minutes in total.
- 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 cucumber?
- Courgette, same weight (in salads, use young ones).
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