What On Earth Is A Flammeküeche?

It’s a cute Alsatian word for what is known in plain French as the tarte flambée — a thin-crust pizza made with crème fraîche, sliced onions and smoked lardons and traditionally baked in a wood-burning oven. But this Alsatian street food is an easy treat to make at home in your oven on a chilly evening…

Traditionally served as a first course or an appetizer with a glass of chilled Alsatian white wine, the flammeküeche is made with thinly rolled-out bread dough, but you can easily substitute a store-bought roll of pizza dough.

Just roll out the dough, spread it with a thin layer of crème fraîche and/or fromage blanc, and scatter some thinly sliced white onions and thinly cut smoked lardons (or thin strips of smoked bacon) over the top. Sprinkle with nutmeg and a sprinkling of salt and pepper and bake in the hottest oven possible until bubbling and nicely browned. The key here is to be sparing with the toppings and to slice them thinly so that they will cook quickly before the tart burns.

(It’s not traditional, but as you can see from the photos, I always add a touch of rosemary, which adds a little woodsy smokiness that seems to make up for my lack of a wood-burning oven — and makes the house smell even better than it already does with a flammeküeche in the oven.)

Recipe: Tarte flambée (Flammeküeche) from the Alsace Board of Tourism (English)
Recipe: La flammeküeche d’Eric Leautey (French)

– Kristin Hohenadel blogging from Paris. She can be reached at kristin @ apartmenttherapy . com

Images: KH