Ingredients

Yield: 6 servings
Prep time: 10 minutes
Baking: 15 minutes

3/4 pound ground round (ultra-lean beef)
1/3 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 (6-ounce) can Italian-flavored tomato paste (not sauce)
Hot-pepper sauce to taste
1 long loaf Italian or brown-and-serve bread, unsliced
2 small tomatoes, thinly sliced
1/2 small green bell pepper, cut into rings
3 or 4 processed Swiss cheese slices, cut in triangles

Directions

Have oven heating to 450 degrees F. In a small mixing bowl, use a kitchen fork to blend the uncooked ground round with the Parmesan cheese, onion, tomato paste and hot sauce. Blend well.

Use a long-bladed, serrated knife to slice the long loaf of bread in half lengthwise. Turn each half of the loaf cut side up on a baking sheet, placing them side by side. Divide the beef mixture in half and spread each portion the length of the bread in an even layer, covering the cut side of the bread completely, right to the edges.

Bake for about 10 minutes (the beef layer is thin enough to cook through in this short time). Remove the baking sheet from the oven and alternate slices of tomato, bell pepper and Swiss cheese on top of each sandwich half. Return to the oven to melt the cheese and finish cooking the beef so no pink color remains. (The tomato paste turns the meat a rosy color, so check carefully for doneness.) Slice crosswise into chunks to serve. From "Diner: The Best of Casual American Cooking," by Diane Rossen Worthington (Sunset Books, 1995).