Tarte Flambée with Shallots & British Back Bacon l Flammkuchen mit Schalotten & Back Bacon

Having blogged about Tarte Flambée (Flammkuchen) before, I will not go into the details of its origin or history. But I will tell you that the Pizzawheels that I wrote about last week, aren’t the only fingerfood of sorts that we like to indulge in while spending a lot ot time at home these days.

Lately, Tarte Flambée (Flammkuchen) has become a new go-to dish for me. And just like my Pizzawheels versions (vegetarian, vegan or regular) are wonderful on their own, with just a side salad or a steaming bowl of soup, my interpretation of Flammkuchen is also quite delicious with just a salad – these days I usually go with lambs lettuce (Feldsalat). And should you be looking for a more substantial meal, a soup is also absolutely perfect with Flammkuchen – my current seasonal choice is a creamy German potato soup (Kartoffelsuppe) – the recipe will follow in one of my up-coming posts.

With this recipe, I somewhat veer off Flammkuchen tradition - with this version I like to roll out the dough not too thin, and I use shallots instead of onions as shallots are milder and sweeter with a less dominant onion flavor, but still very flavorful. And I love the look of rashers of bacon instead of cut-up cubed or thinly sliced bacon. If you cut the Tarte into 4 equal parts, everyone gets a nice slice of bacon with their piece. 

Overall, with the crème fraîche, the shallots and the bacon, this is a creamy, oniony, delicious Tarte Flambée that is easy to put together.

Tarte Flambée with Shallots & British Back Bacon l Flammkuchen mit Schalotten & Back Bacon

Ingredients 

For the Dough

• 250g (8 oz) white spelt flour (around here Dinkelmehl Type 630) OR strong white bread flour (around here Weizenmehl Type 405), plus extra for dusting
• 3.5g dried yeast (Trockenhefe)
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 tbsp mild olive oil (suitable for cooking)
• 6 tbsp cold water
• 1 tsp fine sea salt

For the Topping

• 200g crème fraîche (I use 30%)
• freshly ground black pepper and sea salt
• mild olive oil
• 1 tbsp freshly chopped chives
• 250g shallots, peeled and very finely sliced (I like to use the my mandoline for getting even slices)
• 8 slices of smoked bacon, speck or pancetta (I like to use British back bacon)

Preparation

1. Pre-heat your oven to 220°C (425°F).
2. Put 50g (2 oz) of the flour, the yeast, sugar, olive oil and 4 tbsp of the water in a bowl and mix together. Cover with a clean tea towel and leave to prove for about 30 minutes.
3. Add the rest of the flour, about 2 tbsp more water and the salt to the proved mixture and mix the dough.
4. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for about 10 minutes (OR use the dough hook of your stand mixer and mix for about 10 minutes) until the dough is quite sticky and elastic.
5. Divide the dough in half and then roll out onto two floured baking sheets – either leave it a bit thicker (which is what I like to do OR roll it out as thin as possible).
6. In a small bowl, mix together the crème fraîche, freshly ground black pepper, sea salt, and chives – taste for seasoning (remember that the bacon is relatively salty, so make sure to go a bit easy on the salt).
7. Spread the crème fraîche mixture over the dough, sprinkle with thinly sliced shallots (at this point I like to add a good grinding of black pepper again but that is optional) and lay the slices of bacon on top of the shallots (go with 4 slices of bacon per Flammkuchen). 
8. Bake in the pre-heated oven for about 10 minutes or until nicely browned at the edges.
9. Sprinkle with additional chives and serve piping hot.

More Flammkuchen inspiration:

• Tarte Flambée with Purple Asparagus (Lila Spargel-Flammkuchen) (HERE) - pictured above
• Tarte Flambée with White and Green Asparagus and Prosciutto (Flammkuchen mit weißem und grünen Spargel und Prosciutto) (HERE) 
• Tarte Flambée with Goat's Cheese & Zucchini (Flammkuchen mit Ziegenkäse & Zucchini) (HERE) 
• Tarte Flambée Sucrée with Apples and Cinnamon Sugar (Süsser Flammkuchen mit Äpfeln und Zimt-Zucker) (HERE) - pictured below

And a 'Flambette' inspiration:

• Late Winter Comfort Food - Wholegrain Spelt Flour 'Flambettes' with a Topping of Caramelized Fennel (Flambette mit karamelisiertem Fenchel) (HERE)