Flammekueche: paper-thin, hot and fast

Tarte flambée, flammekueche in Alsatian, is an Alsace dish: a paper-thin sheet of dough with fromage blanc and cream, onion and bacon. The recipe of the Alsace winegrowers (Vins d’Alsace) uses dough without yeast, rolls it to about one millimetre and bakes it in an oven at 280 °C. Our version with a little yeast and a home oven at up to 250 °C is our own variation.

2 flammekueches, serves 4 for lunch · Preparation: 30 min · Cooking: 30 min · Resting: 60 min

Times are guidelines; preheat during preparation where possible. Allow extra time to cool food before storing it.

Equipment

Mixing bowl, rolling pin and two baking trays.

Ingredients

• 250 g plain wheat flour
• 2 g fast-action dried yeast
• 4 g salt
• 150 ml lukewarm water
• 15 ml sunflower oil
• 100 g crème fraîche
• 100 g full-fat quark
• 250 g peeled onion
• 150 g smoked bacon lardons
• 0.5 g freshly grated nutmeg
• 0.5 g ground black pepper
• flour for dusting

Method

1. Mix the flour, yeast and 3 g salt. Add the water and oil and knead for 8 minutes into a soft dough. Cover and leave to rise for about 1 hour.
2. Put a rack on the lowest shelf and preheat the oven to 250 °C, conventional heat, or the highest setting up to 250 °C, for at least 20 minutes.
3. Slice the onion into paper-thin rings. Stir the crème fraîche, quark, nutmeg, pepper and 1 g salt together until smooth.
4. Halve the dough. Dust the work surface and a cold baking tray with flour. Roll one half out into a sheet of about 30 × 35 cm and 2 mm thick and lay it on the tray. Spread with half the cream mixture almost to the edge. Scatter over half the onion and lardons.
5. Put the tray on the rack and bake for 12–15 minutes, until the edge is deep brown and crisp and the lardons are cooked and coloured at the edges. Meanwhile prepare the second one on the second, cold tray and bake it in the same way.
6. Cut into pieces and eat straight away.

Storage

Best eaten fresh. Cool leftovers within 2 hours and refrigerate covered at 4 °C. Eat within 2 days and reheat once until steaming hot throughout.

Allergens

Wheat/gluten and milk.

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