After exploring the charming areas of Bretagne, France, and Quebec City, Canada, flammekueche has quickly become one of my favorite pizza alternatives. Flammekueche is a flatbread, smothered in a creamy sauce and traditionally topped with onions and pancetta. It is cooked over a wood fire to create an extra crispy crust. It can be baked in a very hot oven or for a more traditional flavor, cook it outside over a wood fire.
Flammekueche originates from Alsace France. This enchanting region is located in Eastern France on the Rhine river. After all, just look at this place. Who wouldn’t dream of spending a week in the charming region of Alsace? The 8 Best Alsace Villages and Towns: What to Do & Where to Stay
This area is steeped in German and Swiss influence, being the only part of France that shares borders with both countries. Depending on the locale, flammekueche may also be known as tarte flambée in France and flammekuchen in Germany.
Ingredients, Preparation, Servings, and Storage
Good quality pancetta has been a struggle to find here, so instead, we substitute crispy thick cut bacon in this recipe. Also, onion preparation can vary. I have read that it is traditional to use raw onion and raw pancetta before baking. The flammekueche that we tasted in Bretagne and Quebec City were prepared with sweet, caramelized onions.
This recipe makes two flammekueches on two sheet pans that are 18 inches or larger. In fact, these two flatbreads can easily serve six to eight people, making it a great cultural meal to share with friends.
This recipe is easy to prepare and takes less than one hour from start to finish. Although leftovers can be refrigerated for up to 4 days, the best texture and flavor comes from hot, freshly prepared flammekueches. Reheating leftovers in the oven at 350°F for 5 minutes will give the best reheated results.
After trying Flammekueche, see these other exciting alternatives to traditional pizza?
Flammekueche
Equipment
- stand mixer
- Rolling Pin
- medium sized mixing bowl
- 2 large sheet pans
- medium sized cast iron skillet
Ingredients
Flatbread
- 4 cups All purpose flour
- 1½ cups Water
- 1/4 cup Olive oil
- 1/2 tsp Sea salt
Cream sauce
- 1 cup Sour cream (or creme fraiche if you can find it)
- 2 Egg yolk
- 1 tsp Sea salt
- 1/2 tsp Black pepper
- 1 tsp Nutmeg
Other ingredients
- 8 strips Bacon, thick sliced
- 2 cup Yellow onions, thinly sliced
- 1 tsp Sugar
- 1 cup Shredded mozzarella cheese
Instructions
Bacon
- In a medium sized cast iron skillet over medium to medium high heat, fry the bacon until crispy. Once bacon is finished cooking, move the strips to a paper towel lined plate. Turn off the stove while making the dough but save the skillet and bacon grease for caramelizing the onions.
Dough
- In a stand mixer, combine flour, water, olive oil, and salt.
- Using the dough hook attachment, knead the dough until all the flour is mixed into the dough, about 5 minutes.
- Cover the dough with a towel and allow to rest while you prepare the other ingredients.
Caramelized onions
- Using the skillet that was used to fry the bacon, turn the heat back on to medium. Once the bacon grease is hot, add the onions and sugar. Sauté the onions until they are very soft, reduced by two thirds and slightly caramelized.
Cream Sauce
- While the onions are caramelizing, mix the sour cream, egg yolks, salt, pepper, and nutmeg in a mixing bowl. Set aside.
Assembling the flammekueche
- Preheat the oven to 450℉
- Lightly flour a large work surface to roll the dough.
- Cut the dough ball in half and roll each dough ball out to a 18x10 rectangle
- Place the thin flatbreads on 2 separate parchment paper lined sheet pans.
- Smother both flatbreads with the cream sauce, using half of the sauce on each flatbread.
- Sprinkle both flammekueches with mozzarella cheese.
- Evenly spread caramelized onions over the top of the cheese.
- Lastly, evenly sprinkle the chopped bacon onto both flammekueches.
- Place the sheet pans in the preheated oven and cook for 15 to 20 minutes.
- The sheet pans may need to be rotated halfway through baking from top to bottom to ensure that the bottoms of both flammekueches are crispy.
- The flammekueches are ready to be removed from the oven when the flatbread is browned and crispy and the cream sauce and cheese are bubbling and melted.
- After removing from the oven, rest the flammekueches for 5 minutes before cutting.
Nutrition
