Fantastic Flammkuchen
Delicious. Quick. Easy.
t’s called a “tarte flambée” just across the French border, and like all
delicious Catholic food, it originated in the kitchens of the ordinary people -- farmers from Alsace, Baden or the Palatinate. (Tarte flambée is French and Flammkuchen is German for "cake baked in the flames.")
Housewives used to bake bread once a week and use a tarte flambée to test the heat of their wood-fired ovens. At peak temperature, the oven would be ideal to bake a tarte flambée, which would bake in the embers in minutes.
Impress your friends with real European home cooking at its best – and this recipe makes two trays of flammkuchen, which you can devour hot or lukewarm.
Serve with a crisp dry Riesling or a Grauburgunder (Pinot Grigio) and a green salad.
What You Will Need
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour plus more for handling
1/2 tsp salt
1 package of yeast
1 tbsp olive oil
1 cup crème fraiche*
2 oz heavy cream
fine sea salt, freshly ground black pepper and nutmeg to taste
3 ounces finely chopped pancetta (or bacon or ham)
3 red onions, finely sliced
Chives, chopped
For the Dough
Add flour and salt to a large bowl, mix briefly and make a well in the center. Dissolve the yeast in lukewarm water, pour into the well and add the olive oil.
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