A classic Tarte Flambée, or Flammkuchen – a kind of French/German pizza with an ultra-thin base, made without yeast, topped with crème fraîche, bacon and onions. Simple and seriously good.
This French (and German) speciality is very easy to make, – serve it as you would a “classic pizza”, or serve it as a side, on a tapas board or as part of a late brunch.
The dough doesn’t need to rise, just to rest while you prepare the topping.
I fry the bacon and onions before putting them on the bases, and I would always recommend doing so. Frying the bacon first renders out a good deal of the fat, so the pizza doesn’t end up greasy as it cooks. It only needs to be fried until pale golden and has released some of its fat, – that way you get a perfectly crisp result once it has been through the oven.
The same goes for the onions, – I fry them in a little of the bacon fat, again only for a moment so they still have some bite – this brings out a lovely sweetness in the onions, and you get a beautifully caramelised result once the pizzas have been in the oven.
Top with plenty of freshly chopped chives, and a little finely chopped red onion when serving, – it adds a welcome freshness to the pizzas.
Tarte Flambée – Flammkuchen
Ingredients
Base
- 600 g good-quality pizza flour
- 400 ml lukewarm water
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
Toppings
- 400 g crème fraîche (38% fat) – otherwise 18% fat
- 250 g streaky bacon rashers
- 2 large red onions, sliced into rings
- 2 large white onions, sliced into rings
- Salt and pepper
- Finely chopped red onion and chives, to serve
Method
- Pour the water, oil and salt into a mixing bowl, and stir in the flour in a couple of additions.
- Knead the dough, ideally in a stand mixer, until it comes away from the sides of the bowl. It’s important that the dough is kneaded thoroughly, – exactly like a classic pizza dough.
- Cover the bowl with cling film, and leave the dough to rest while you make the topping.
- Fry the bacon in a frying pan over a medium heat until pale golden. It should by no means be crisp, – it should just have released a good deal of its fat. Set it aside on a piece of kitchen paper.
- Wipe any burnt bits from the pan with a little kitchen paper, but leave some of the fat behind, and fry the onions in it. The onions only need a couple of minutes and should still have some bite. This ensures the onions develop a lovely sweetness as they cook in the oven.
- Divide the dough into 4 and roll each piece out thinly. You can make them round, square or rectangular – that’s entirely up to you. What matters is that they are rolled out thinly, with a little flour if needed.
- Spread the bases with crème fraîche and season with freshly ground pepper and a little salt.
- Scatter the bacon and onions over the bases, and bake them, one at a time, in an oven preheated to 230°C, conventional oven (top and bottom heat), for about 12-14 minutes.
- Top with freshly chopped red onion and chives before serving.
Nutrition
Premium
