Flammkuchen

Flammkuchen originally comes from Elsass in Germany, which is now Alsace (in France). This is the original recipe with crème fraîche, red onion and bacon.

This dish is also known by its French name "tarte flambée". Pizza makers in Germany used a small portion of the dough to check whether an oven was up to temperature.

As it is always a pity to throw away food, they decided to add a simple topping. Voila! That's how the flammkuchen was born.

Preparation – 1 hour 45 minutes

In a large bowl, combine the lukewarm water with 7 grams of yeast and 1/2 teaspoon of sugar. Stir well, and let it stand for at least 5 minutes. Add the flour to the yeast mixture, with a pinch of salt and a dash of olive oil.

Mix into a dough in a stand mixer, and knead for 5 to 10 minutes using a dough hook. Add a dash of olive oil to the other bowl, then place the dough in the bowl and cover with a clean, damp tea towel.

Let the flammkuchen dough rise in a warm place for an hour and a half, or until the dough has doubled in volume.

Finishing the flammkuchen – 15 minutes

Preheat the oven to a temperature of 250 degrees Celsius. Remove the dough from the bowl and roll it out on your work surface until wafer thin.

Make sure that the thickness of the pizza base is no greater than 2 millimetres. You can bake 2 large flammkuchen with this quantity of dough. Line the baking tray with baking parchment.

Place the pizza base on the paper and cover with crème fraîche, leaving the edges exposed. The edges may rise and curly up during baking, causing any toppings on them to burn.

Slice the red onion into thin half moons. Sprinkle the bacon and onion rings over the 2 flammkuchen. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Bake the flammkuchen in the preheated oven for 8 minutes, or until the bases are lightly browned. Serve immediately. Enjoy your meal!

If you're interested in a more detailed step-by-step guide on how to make pizza dough, click on the image below: