Recipe - Flammekueche or Tarte Flambée

     This Alsatian thin crust pizza is a staple here.  You will find it on many menus and it's the lunch of choice on a sunny, warm afternoon.  I have found all kinds of recipes but I haven't tried any of them because well, I can buy them frozen.  I will include a local version of the recipe and then I've also found a video with recipe that might be better geared for non-Europeans with more readily available ingredients.  Traditionally, it is cooked in a wood burning oven and was prepared to check that the oven was at a good temperature to cook the daily/weekly bread.  If you happen to have a wood burning bread oven, great for you but remember that your flammekueche will most likely be ready in a very short amount of time.  I hope you give it a try.

Alsacienne version (for 2 people)

150g bread or pizza dough

100 g fromage blanc 40%fat

100mL thick crème fraiche 40%fat

1 tsp flour

1 tsp oil

100g lardons, sliced fine

100g onions, sliced fine

Salt and freshly ground pepper

Pinch of nutmeg

Heat oven to its highest temperature.  Roll out dough as thinly as possible. Either put it on a pan or a peel if you are using a pizza stone in your oven.  In a bowl, mix the fromage blanc, crème fraiche, flour, oil, salt and pepper and nutmeg.  Spread to about 1 cm of edge of crust.  Sprinkle with lardons and onions.  Put in hot oven and bake until edge of crust becomes brown and topping starts to bubble.  Serve hot.  ***for a gratinée, you can add some grated swiss cheese.

Readily available ingredients version

I will let you use the measurement from above but will give you alternative ingredients.  I think that it's also best to make the gratinée version and add some cheese.  You should take a few moments to watch the video because it will help you understand how to put it all together. This recipe is for 2 people.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kM7j5uUj8QI

For the crust
1/2 cup of warm water
1/2 teaspoon of sugar
1/2 teaspoon of dry yeast

1/2 tablespoon of olive oil
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 1/4 cup of all purpose flour

In a medium sized bowl, sprinkle the sugar and yeast into the warm water and let sit for 5 minutes.  Add the olive oil then flour and salt(the salt should not touch the yeast until you start mixing). Stir together until mixture comes together in a ball. Knead for about 5 minutes or so. Separate the dough in half and place in two small bowls. Let rise for 2 hours. Flammkuchen can be prepared at this point or dough can be refrigerated until following day.  When ready, thinly roll out dough.  Place on pan or peel.

Toppings

crème fraiche or soft cream cheese that is diluted with a bit of cream

nutmeg

freshly ground pepper

bacon (should be a thick cut that you slice into rectangular bits) *he uses pancetta

onions, thinly sliced

Swiss cheese, grated

In a small bowl, mix the soft cream cheese, diluted with the nutmeg and pepper. Spread this on dough, very thinly to about 1 cm from edge. Sprinkle with bacon, onions and cheese. Bake in a very hot oven until crust is brown on edges and mixture is bubbling.

You can experiment with the ingredients if you like. One suggestion was using thick Greek yogurt or a goat cheese spread instead of the crème fraiche.