Flammkuchen (Onion, Bacon, and Creme Fraiche Tart)

October 5th, 2008  |  Published in All, Around the World, Delectable Dairy, Most Popular, Onion, Sausages, Meats, Veritable Vegetables, Weekend Projects  |  29 Comments

Flamekuche (Onion, Bacon, and Creme Fraiche Tart)
Flammkuchen photo courtesy of lejoe on Flickr

Flamekuche (Onion, Bacon, and Creme Fraiche Tart)

1 recipe of your favorite pizza dough
2 medium white onions, cut in half vertically then sliced very thin
1 c. creme fraiche
about 1/2 c. diced bacon
freshly ground black pepper
freshly ground nutmeg

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.

On a sheet of parchment paper, roll the pizza dough out very thin so it is about the size of your baking sheet.  Place crust (still on parchment paper) onto baking sheet and stretch the edges if they shrank back while transferring the dough.

Mix onions and creme fraiche in a bowl, then spread mixture evenly over crust.  Sprinkle diced bacon over top, then add a few grinds of black pepper and a few pinches of nutmeg.  Bake 15-20 minutes, until crust is lightly browned and crispy.  Enjoy!

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Wilkommen nach Deutschland!

Ok, full-disclosure time:  I haven’t yet made this myself, but I watched very carefully as it was made in front of me at the home of one of my co-workers here in Germany earlier this evening.  The whole time I was thinking, I’m really going to like this — simple, boldly flavored ingredients, a traditional french/german preparation… So, I made sure to take very detailed mental notes so that I could try to reproduce it at home.

Flammkuchen is far more than the sum of its parts.  You might think that with just five ingredients (other than the crust) that you’d get something bland or with a flavor skewed too far in one direction.  Not so!  The onions, bacon, and creme fraiche are a magical trio — the bite of the onion lightens the creme fraiche which cuts the saltiness of the bacon which compliments the pungent onion — these are no doubt bold flavors but in the end the dish isn’t at all overwhelming.  It’s in fact incredibly delicious — so delicious that after the dinner party I came straight back to my hotel and wrote up the recipe so I wouldn’t forget it.  Not that there’s much to forget, there being a grand total of five ingredients…

To accompany the flamekuche we had glasses of both white and red Federweisser, also known as Suser, Junger Wein (young wine), or Sturm (translates to storm — called this due to its cloudy appearance).  Federweisser is on the sweet side, and has a nice bubbly zing to it.  It is the product of fermented freshly pressed grape juice, and as far as I know isn’t much available in the US (if you know of anywhere it is available, do leave a comment!)  I have vague recollections of trying Sturm when I stayed in Linz and not being wild about it, but drinking it alongside its traditional partner flammkuchen was certainly a great way to start out my trip.

It may be sacrilegious, but when I make this at home I might consider adding a sprinkling of freshly chopped parsley, or perhaps half with parsley, half without to do a side-by-side comparison, traditional french/german v. california adaptation…  anyhow, Guten Appetit!

« | Home | »


Most Popular