Recipe for Alsatian flammekueche (flambé pie)
Food lovers, here's a new must-try recipe from Alsace: Flammekueche (or flammkueche/flammkĂŒche, pronounced "Flam'koureu")! Here are my tips for making them at home.
The origins of flammekueche
Flammekueche was originally a festive snack for farmers. When they baked bread, they used the leftover dough, topped with cottage cheese and bacon. It was baked at the same time as the bread, in a hot wood-fired oven. It’s a tart flambĂ©ed over a wood fire (flammĂ©e would be more accurate).
When the tart came out of the oven, still hot, we cut it into rectangular slices, rolled up the slice and ate it with our fingers. That’s how we always eat it (don’t take out your cutlery đ ).
For those of you who aren’t necessarily at ease with our (lovely) dialect, you can just as easily talk about tarte flambĂ©e, it’ll be easier, and you’ll be talking about exactly the same thing as your Alsatian friends.
Flammkueche recipes
The original flammkueche recipe has changed very little: cream is now mixed with fromage blanc, and we’ve come up with some gourmet variations, which can be found on most restaurant menus in the region. Here they are:
- traditional tarte flambĂ©e (called “normal”): bacon and onions;
- la gratinée: normal + GruyÚre cheese;
- la forestiĂšre: onions + mushrooms;
- ForestiĂšre au gratin: onions + mushrooms + GruyĂšre (and sometimes lardons too)
- tarte flambée with munster cheese: normal + munster cheese;
- tarte flambée aux pommes: a sweet dessert made with apple slices and flambéed in Calvados, the possibilities are endless!
Personally, I often stick to a good traditional tarte flambĂ©e. For an aperitif, or as a main course, flam’s are very easy to make.
Baking the tarte flambée
Ideally, of course, it should be baked in a tarte flambĂ©e or pizza oven. But you can also make it in your traditional oven, by placing it on a baking sheet with parchment paper. And if you’ve got a pizza stone, now’s the time to get it out, as it adds a little extra to the baking process.
Our recipe
Flammekueche alsacienne (tarte flambée)
Ingredients
Pour la pĂąte
- 250 gr farine
- 25 ml dâhuile de colza
- 1 pincée de sel
- 150 ml dâeau tiĂšde
Pour la garniture
- 150 gr de crĂšme fraĂźche Ă©paisse
- 150 gr fromage blanc
- 3 oignons
- 200 gr de lardons fumés
- Poivre
- Muscade rùpé
- 1 cuillĂšre Ă soupe dâhuile de colza.
Instructions
- PrĂ©parez la pĂąte : mĂ©langez la farine avec le sel, lâhuile et lâeau tiĂšde et pĂ©trissez bien (si possible avec le robot). La pĂąte est prĂȘte !
- Il reste Ă lâabaisser en forme de disque ou de rectangle, selon la taille de votre plaque.
- PrĂ©parez ensuite la garniture : mĂ©langez dans un rĂ©cipient la crĂšme fraĂźche et le fromage blanc. Ajoutez le poivre et la muscade rĂąpĂ©e. Le mĂ©lange doit ĂȘtre bien aromatisĂ©.
- Allumez le four sur 230°C.
- Ămincez assez finement les oignons, vous pouvez les faire revenir, mais sinon, ils cuiront au four.
- DĂ©posez la pĂąte sur une plaque garnie dâun papier sulfurisĂ© (ou sur une pelle Ă pizza pour la mettre ensuite sur votre brique rĂ©fractaire chaude).
- Avec une spatule, Ă©talez le mĂ©lange sur la pĂąte en respectant un bord de 1 cm. RĂ©partissez Ă©quitablement des lardons et une poignĂ©e dâoignons.
- Enfournez quand le four est à température.
- La tarte sera cuite en 8 Ă 10 minutes. La tarte doit commencer Ă brunir. Servez chaud.