In French, it’s known as tarte flambée, in Alsatian it’s flammekueche, in German flammkuchen. Whatever you call it, it’s mouthwateringly good and we enjoyed a number of these last summer when we spent a week in Colmar in Alsace.
Basically, it’s a VERY thin crust pizza topped with lardons (bacon strips), white onions and a cream-based sauce made with fromage blanc and crème fraîche. So, uh, yeah, not exactly low-fat or low-cal…. President’s Choice have recently come out with a pretty good version of flammekeuche but it has been on my list of things to try to replicate since we got back from our trip.
To be honest, I knew I could figure this out pretty easily actually – it’s not rocket science. But what I wanted to do was lighten it up a bit since it can be pretty heavy, so this was the perfect opportunity to see whether Liberté’s Plain Greek yogurt 0% could make a suitable stand in for the fromage blanc (which we can’t really find here anyway – I would have been using sour cream mixed with mascarpone or something like that…) in this, my sixth post for Liberté.
For this recipe, I used pre-rolled butter puff pastry (another President’s Choice product that I am in love with!) but if you have a thin crust from-scratch pizza base that works for you, go for it. My way is wonderfully simple and I was thrilled with the results – the puff pastry makes it even lighter than the thin crust pizza it is supposed to be made with. I understand that making it with puff pastry makes it not as authentic but having had the real thing, I think this measures up pretty well. With just a few ingredients, this was a perfect weekend lunch… Onions, bacon, puff pastry, Liberté Plain Greek Yogurt 0%, crème fraîche and a little nutmeg and pepper – doesn’t sound like much but it tastes amazing.
Ready to bake!
An easy version of Alsatian "tarte flambée".Tarte flambée, Flammekueche, Flammkuchen
Ingredients
Instructions
Oh this was so delicious! I made it twice in one day actually – once to test it and once to photograph it and test it again. Both times it came out wonderfully, though I was not able to eat much of the second round. I was excited to discover that it re-heats well at 300˚F for about 15 minutes.
Not that you would have any leftovers though….
I can see all sorts of possibilities for this but you should try just the basic recipe first. You won’t believe that those few simple ingredients could taste so good. And no, you would have no idea that the “sauce” is lightened up. Trust me.
For more fabulous recipes and to discover their Greek yogurt line, visit Liberté now.
Disclosure: I received compensation for developing a series of recipes for Liberté. These posts were not reviewed prior to publication. All opinions my own.
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Looks like a good way to ring the changes when making pizza! A pizza bianca for sure. 🙂
Something like that yes…
There should be no problem using the cream as opposed to yogurt as, unlike a pizza, you are not adding cheese. A good alternative to the thin pizza base is to use a wrap. I have used these as pizza bases as I like really thin bases. You need to put the wrap in a frying pan greased with olive oil and cook the underside before covering the top with the filling. When it’s baked the edges go REALLY crispy (be careful they don’t burn.) I have had the Tarte Flambe in Colmar and the oven has to be mega hot, otherwise they are soggy in the middle. I have bought the ones from Waitrose but I haven’t been able to get them as crispy as the French ones.
Of course you can use cream – I like that the Greek yoghurt is thick enough to use instead and less fat!
My kids are addicted to this, Mardi. Must try it with Greek Yogurt next time. Gorgeous pics. I can feel Alsace coming on, a glass of Pinot Blanc… Cheers to your flammekueche!
As yes, perfect with a glass of Pinot Blanc.
Whoa!! I’m not sure quite how to say the name of this dish, but I know I’d have no problem eating it up!
That’s all that matters!
This looks great, I haven’t heard of this before. Makes me want to run off to France right now!
What a stunning tart – the tomatoes look so fresh and with herbs and onion and cheese? Mmmmmmm 😀
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
Oops called the bacon tomatoes – being veg that is what I will do though 😀
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
Any topping would be delicious on this!
A Tarte Flambe doesn’t have tomatoes on it.
Not an authentic one, no. But you could absolutely use tomatoes if you are vegetarian.
I lived in Heidelberg Germany for 17 years and we had many different varieties of flammkuchen in our travels including pumpkin slices depending on the region you are in and the season of the fest
Mmmmmm! I have had this on holiday and never made it at home but think I will now.
WOW! I’ve never seen this before. So interesting that you made it with puff pastry. It looks delicious Mardi and I’m glad that the yogurt worked well in it.
Me too – pretty pleased with this!
Mardi, thank you for lightening this up for us…it looks fantastic. And so simple to whip up using puff pastry as a base 🙂
Light AND simple – what could be better?
You’ve sold me! I wouldn’t have guessed that Greek yogurt would make this so good, but sometimes everything just works together.
I would never have guesses that Greek yogurt would work either… So glad it did!
oh my god, this looks ridiculously delicious. That crust with the bacon and tangy cream and the.. (drool drool drool).
I cannot tell you how badly I would like a slice of that tarte right now. Looks amazing!
love this had German friends who used to make it so good
this looks ridiculously good. i’d have never thought of using puff pastry dough for pizza crust – i am totally going to try that!
And it’s so easy – and looks so professional!
Just came across this and was wondering if you’d know of anywhere to get the fromage blanc in Toronto? Excellent version at Elle m’a Dit (alsatian restaurant) in Baldwin village. Great recipe and I have to give it a go.
Hi Monty, just found this in my Spam comments (sorry!) – and no, I have not seen fromage blanc in Toronto. Which is why it’s great to be able to use Greek yoghurt!
Hi there! Just came upon this site while searching for a recipe for flammekueche, which I LOVE. Will be checking out the rest of the site too, as I love eating, living, travelling and writing as well! 😉
The only change I made to this recipe was to saute the onions a couple minutes in the bacon fat. I like the ideas in this recipe: bacon instead of lardons of course! I thought the puff pastry worked great, and the creme mixture worked with yogurt and sour cream — though I might use a little less of the mix on the pastry next time. Would also love to see what effect the use of Quark or ricotta would have on the taste of the sauce.
The one caution I will give is, this spice mix was craaaazy for me. I don’t know if the size of my teaspoons or the strength of my nutmeg differs from yours, but 2 tsp made the creme mix unpalatably bitter. My husband eats everything, and was excited to try my flammekueche effort. He couldn’t manage a full slice because of the taste of the nutmeg. Will probably either quarter the amount, and probably halve the pepper as well, or leave nutmeg out entirely next time.
Thanks for a great procedure for something I’ve wondered how to make for a while!
So glad you found the recipe! I have to say that depending on where you are in the world, a teaspoon measure can be quite different. A teaspoon is around 2 grams so it’s a tiny amount. Obviously the seasoning is a personal thing – I am not a huge fan of nutmeg and this worked for me… Play around and find what works for you!
Lardons are chopped up bacon!
So false.
I was looking for a good recipe for individual tarten.
I was a student working for a summer in the Alsace/Elsässer region/Strasbourg. I made between 500 to 800 tarten per night.
Puff pastry??? You must be joking?
Your speck (bacon) is all wrong. The bacon should only be a hint not a meal. The average guest easily eats 2 to 3 of these alone, they are a compliment to the Alsace wine/beer not a meal! A starter (entreé) this is not the main meal. In fact many restaurants in the region serve a complimentary small tarte entreé before guests order their main dish.
The dough base is paper thin, the onion must remain undercooked, a thin layer of creme fraise. Your photos show enough speck/bacon that would be enough for five tartes.
In this region this is better known as Elsässer Flammkuchen but what you have invented or created here is the another American bastardized idea of turning a beautiful idea into “let’s all get fat”.
Perhaps the best representation is what an authentic Flammkuchen looks like is found from Wikipedia:
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Els%C3%A4sser_Flammkuchen_in_Strasbourg_1.jpg
Thanks so much for your comments – lots of great info there about what an authentic Flammkuchen should look like and how it should be prepared. As I said in the post, mine is a much simplified version – I did say it was not authentic! In terms of how it should be eaten, yes, in Alsace they do tend to eat them for “snacks” although at many places people were eating them for the main meal too. Re: your comment about turning a beautiful idea into “let’s all get fat”, I believe the Greek yoghurt lightens this up considerably and re: the amount of bacon, I don’t think mine was overboard – certainly when we were there in Alsace, we had Flammkuchen with a lot of bacon too (see photos). In any case, your info is terrific so thanks for adding to the conversation!
Hear Hear! I have had the Tarte Flambe as a starter in Colmar – although I found it really difficult to finish the main course – (I think we had Baekerhoff.) The wrap used as a base I suggested in an earlier post is closer to the paper thin base of the authentic Tarte Flambe.
Absolutely agree that the base is not “authentic” but it works at a pinch with ingredients I generally have in my house!
Hi Mardi,
Having never been to Alsace, I am going to try this recipe. Looks outstanding. Any other toppings/variations you recommend? I’d like to make 2-3 different but somewhat authentic versions. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated
Hi Christine,
You can pretty much use any pizza topping you like with this puff pastry base but the traditional topping for a Tarte Flambée is the crème fraîche, bacon lardons and onions. Here is a vegetarian version, for example…