Flammkuchen is my weak point. Some people love pizza or pasta as a indulgent meal, mine has been and forever will be Flammkuchen. Flammkuchen originates from the Alsace region in France and is a thin, crispy dough covered with a lovely cream topped off with crispy bacon pieces and roasted onions. Its salty, creamy and crispy. Not only is this delicious on its own, but it is usually served with a chilled glass of white wine. I mean, a crispy pizza that should be served with a glass of wine, Is there any paring more perfect?
The flammkuchen I have just described is the traditional one, however you can obviously get as creative as you like. You can make vegetarian versions, topped off with some feta in order to give a bit of saltiness to your slice fits just as well.
In the summertime there are quite a lot of wine markets and wine events near the Rheinland here in Germany, and there tends to be one large market that graces Cologne for one week. This is one of my favourite weeks in Cologne, no joke. The wineries serve all types of regionally produced wines, mainly white, while their neighbouring stands sell flammkuchen. The amount of flammkuchen that goes out of these stands you would think they are handing them out for free.
I did not want to wait another year until I could enjoy this crispy treat, so I made them at home. The dough was perfect. Crispy and light, just how it is supposed to be. You can get as creative as you like, especially now in the colder seasons by adding seasonal veggies, such as pumpkin, figs, or squash topped off with goat cheese and drizzled with honey.
Flammkuchen
1/2 cube fresh yeast
1 tsp white sugar
300g all purpose flour
3 tbsp
1 tsp salt
150 ml warm water
Toppings:
150g bacon
3 yellow onions, thinly sliced
200g sour cream
3 cloves garlic, crushed
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp dried thyme
In a small bowl add fresh yeast and sugar. Mix until you make a liquid. In a separate bowl add flour, salt, olive oil, water and yeast mixture and mix until you have a dough.
Rest dough for 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 200 C
On a floured surface roll out a piece of the dough. This dough made for 3 whole Flammkuchen, but you can roll them out thinner and make 4.
In a small bowl mix crushed garlic, olive oil, paprika and thyme.
Add your toppings and garlic mixture and bake for about 20 - 25 minutes, crust should be golden brown.
