Flammkuchen

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Baking steel, pizza stone, or heavy baking tray
• •Rolling pin
• •Baking paper
• •Sharp knife or mandoline for thin onions

Instructions

1. 1

   Make the dough

   Mix the flour and salt, then stir in the oil and lukewarm water until a rough dough forms. Knead it for 5 minutes until smooth and elastic; the kneading gives the dough enough strength to roll thin without tearing. Cover it and rest it for 30 minutes, because rested gluten rolls out flat instead of springing back at you.

   Do not add yeast for this version. A risen base fights the dish; Flammkuchen wants to be thin, quick, and crisp under a wet topping.
2. 2

   Heat the oven

   Put a baking steel, pizza stone, or heavy upside-down tray on the top third rack and heat the oven to 250C, or as hot as it will go, for at least 30 minutes. The surface must be hot before the dough lands, because the base has to set fast while the dairy stays creamy and the onion just softens.

3. 3

   Prepare the topping

   Stir the crème fraîche with the fromage blanc or quark, nutmeg, and black pepper. Keep the salt light or leave it out, because smoked bacon brings enough. Slice the onions thin so they cook in the few minutes the tart has in the oven; thick onion stays raw while the edge burns.

4. 4

   Roll paper thin

   Divide the dough into 4 pieces and roll each one on a floured sheet of baking paper into a long oval or rough rectangle, as thin as you can get it without holes. This is the whole dish. Thick dough holds moisture and turns bready; thin dough blisters at the edge and cooks before the topping has time to split.

5. 5

   Dress lightly

   Spread a thin layer of the dairy mixture right to near the edge, then scatter over onion and bacon in a loose, even layer. Don't make a mountain. A heavy topping traps water, and then you've made a wet flatbread with ambition. Das ist kein Bierzelt.

6. 6

   Bake hard

   Slide the tart, still on its paper, onto the hot steel or tray and bake for 6 to 9 minutes, until the rim is blistered dark in spots, the bacon has browned at the edges, and the dairy is set but still glossy. Watch the first one closely. Every home oven lies differently.

7. 7

   Finish and serve

   Pull it onto a board, scatter with chives if you're using them, and cut it at once. Flammkuchen waits for nobody; the base is crispest in the first minutes, and the whole pleasure is eating it by hand while the next one bakes. Schön ist, was schmeckt.

Chef Tips

• •Use Schmand if you can find it. It has enough fat and tang to survive hard oven heat; thin sour cream can split and run before the base is done.
• •Cut the bacon small and use smoked streaky bacon or Speck, not lean ham. The fat seasons the onion as it bakes, and lean meat dries out before it gives anything back.
• •A baking steel is the closest home oven answer to the old bread oven. A heavy upside-down tray works if you heat it hard and give it time.
• •Serve with Federweißer in autumn, a dry Riesling, or a small glass of Baden Grauburgunder. Beer is allowed. The tart is from wine country first.

Advance Preparation

• •The dough can be made up to 24 hours ahead and kept covered in the refrigerator; bring it to room temperature for 30 minutes before rolling, or it will fight you.
• •The dairy mixture and sliced onions can be prepared a few hours ahead, but assemble only just before baking. Built early, the wet topping softens the base before it reaches the oven.
• •Leftover baked Flammkuchen reheats best on a dry tray in a hot oven for 3 to 4 minutes. It won't be as crisp as the first round, but it won't be wasted.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 250g)