Flammkuchen or Tarte Flambée is a dish I fell in love with while travelling this past summer. It is something like pizza, but don't call it pizza, because it is so much better. It is a bread dough rolled really thinly and baked to be really crisp. Regular pizza dough recipes rolled extra thinly may be used, but this easy recipe does not even contain any yeast or leavening agent. Restaurants serving flammkuchen usually have special boards and cutting implements to bake and serve them, but a really hot oven will do the trick at home. The crust must be thinner than a cracker, and crispier to. Mine turned out a tad too thick because I made too much dough and didn't have the baking sheet, oven space, or fridge room to bake a separate batch.
Flammkuchen
3 cups flour (all-purpose, or half all-purpose, half whole wheat)
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup oil
1 cup water
In a medium bowl, stir together the flour and salt. Stir in the oil and water. Knead if needed, just until dough forms a smooth ball. Set aside to rest.
Roll dough as thin as possible, almost paper thin. Flammkuchen does not have an outside crust like pizza, but mine has a bit of one to keep the toppings on and use the extra dough.
At this point the dough can be placed aside to rest again, or topped and baked, or topped and refrigerated until baking time.
Preheat oven to the highest temperature possible. Heat a baking sheet or wooden board in the oven to heat.
Place crust on the prepared tray and bake for 10-20 minutes until crisp and golden.
Toppings: traditional flammkuchen toppings are crème fraiche, onions, and ham, but there are a variety of different flavors just like pizzas, Mediterranean, artisan, Mexican, etc.
I topped mine with a homemade tahini-Greek yogurt and spice mixture to imitate crème fresh, caramelized onions and mushrooms, and parsley.
To read more about flammkuchen, look here: {Flammkuchen}.
Flammkuchen translates to tarte flambée or flamed tart/flamed cake. It is reminiscent of pizza, but it's not pizza. There are types of flammkuchen known as pizza flammkuchen, which are even more like pizza, but still, personally I think flammkuchen is better than pizza. Flammkuchen is a regional special that is essentially a bread dough rolled incredibly thin (think thinner than thin crust pizza, think lefse). It is usually rectangular, circle, or oval shaped. It is topped with toppings like a pizza and baked, preferably in a stone oven, until crispy. Flammkuchen is always served on one of those wooden baking boards, and is sometimes accompanied by a special flammkuchen cutter to separate the pieces, before enjoying as finger food.
The traditional flammkuchen toppings are crème fraîche, onions, and diced ham. Most flammkuchens are not spread with tomato sauces like pizza, but rather a lighter topping such as crème fraîche or pesto. There is just enough sauce to coat the bread and add a little flavor. Flammkuchen isn't loaded down with globs of cheese either, but mozzarella, feta, goat cheese, or Camembert are used more sparingly. Vegetables and meats are cut into small pieces and added on. There are some signature flammkuchens such as traditional, Mediterranean, Mexican, and Artisan, but you can also usually choose your own toppings as well. There are even dessert flammkuchens which often feature fresh fruit, and a sauce of perhaps chocolate or liquor, which is then flambéed further.
I fell in love with flammkuchen on my trip, but it's not something I can purchase around here. Even frozen flammkuchen was good, but it's not sold here. Perhaps this will be another recipe I attempt? Pictured above is the best flammkuchen I tried - a Mediterranean, and pictured below is the traditional flammkuchen.
