Thin and Crispy Tarte Flambée

Tarte flambée or flammkuchen, as it is called in German is a dish popular in Alsace, France and in the South of Germany. It’s a large topped flatbread that is prepared and served similar to pizza. There are a couple of important differences though.

Traditionally tarte flambée is topped with crème fraîche, onions, and some kind of ham, bacon, or lardon. (I’ll never know the correct English term for this.)  The crust has to be rolled out paper thin, you want it to be really crispy. To achieve that the dough is made without any kind of leavening. No yeast and most definitely no baking powder. It’s also baked on a very high temperature.

Because of the missing yeast and a high oven temperature the tarte only has to bake for a couple of minutes. The crust itself can be prepared in advance. The dough has to rest but it doesn’t need time to rise and it can be stored in the fridge for up to a week or even longer.

For the topping you need very thinly sliced vegetables. Those can be prepared in advance, too. Simply place them in an airtight container and store in the fridge until ready to use. For this version I used red onions, leeks, and radishes.

This is a very nice recipe for a summer evening. You could eat outside and have a nice glass of white wine with this meal. Since you can repare most components in advance it will come together in no time! Time that you can spend chatting with your friends and family. Doesn’t that sound just great?

For a more traditional flammkuchen use onions and finely cubed smoked tofu instead. Or try this version with squash and chanterelles that is perfect for autumn.