Intro
For a time I have let the San Marazano tomatoes remain in the cupboard. Their bright acidic tang blended with the soft heat of garlic and the subtle touch of dried oregano has served our pizza night’s well, but now I turn to creme fraiche.
It began with a nudge from a friend who encouraged me to make Tarte Flambee for our Alsatian themed dinner party. Having never heard of this dish before I had visions of me bringing a large dish of sorts to the table filled with dinner guests who eagerly looked to me as I set the food aflame.
Pleased to find out that I would not be creating any sort of fire hazard I quickly realized, with the help of Google, that Tarte Flambée is simply a thin crusted pizza with fromage blanc or creme fraiche as the base. Crispy bacon and onions are scattered on top as well as a light dusting of freshly ground nutmeg. Which to me is the reason why this pizza is uncommonly good.
Since that night I have made this pizza numerous times. So often in fact, my husband is probably ready for the return of a simply tomato sauced and mozzerella topped pizza. Not yet, dear.
I assure you there will be no longings for cheese as you bite into this rich pizza. The creme fraiche melts into the crust and intensifies leaving an impossibly creamy base for the sweet and smokey layer of bacon and onions.
I implore you to use freshly grated nutmeg. There is no replacement. Although, don’t go running to the fancy kitchen shop to get a nutmeg house/grater. I simply use one of my favorite kitchen tools, the microplane. (I also use this for garlic, Parmesean, citrus zests, ginger, and even grating fresh fruit and vegetables to use for baby food).
While there will not be any showy flames emanating from this dish there will be plenty of very pleased diners.
continue for the recipes…
Working with one ball at a time, using your hands, slowly stretch the dough to your desired size leaving a bit of a crust around the outer edge. If the dough becomes tight and hard to work with, let it rest for a few minutes while you move on to the next ball of dough. Sometimes the dough just needs a moment to relax (don’t we all).
photo by Gabe Rodriguez
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Tarte Flambé
Pizza Dough
makes enough for 3 or 4 pizzas
4 cups all purpose flour (1 lb 4 oz.)
1 T salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon instant yeast
2 cups water, room temperature
Additional flour, for dusting.
Combine flour, salt, sugar, and yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer. Add 2 cups of room temperature water, then mix on low speed using dough hook until dough binds, about 1 minute, adding more water as necessary. Let rest for 5 minutes. Knead on second-lowest setting for 5 to 7 minutes, until dough pulls away from the bowl and forms a smooth ball.
Turn out onto a floured surface, knead and form into a ball, then let rest in a bowl for 3 to 4 hours.
By this point the dough should have doubled in size. Punch down and cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Place in the fridge overnight. It is possible to use this dough the same day with great results although the long rest in the fridge improves the texture and becomes much easier to stretch, so we do highly recommend it.
Take it out of the fridge two hours before you want to eat dinner and let rest on counter. After approximately 90 minutes, turn out the dough onto a floured surface and cut into 4 8-ounce pieces. Fold and knead each three or four times until it forms a smooth ball. Let rest/rise for 30 minutes.
Tarte Flambée
makes plenty for 1 12” pizza
½ cup creme fraiche (try making your own!)
salt and pepper
¼ teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
1 small garlic clove, minced
4 slices bacon, cut into ¼” strips
½ medium onion, julienned
1 tbl fresh chopped chives
Combine the creme fraiche with salt, pepper, nutmeg and garlic. In a skillet over medium heat cook the bacon until crisp. Add the onions and cook until gently caramelized, about 10 minutes.
Preheat your oven for at least 45 minutes with pizza stone inside, to 485 – 550 degrees.
Create 12” round using your dough. Place on semolina dusted pizza peel. Spread with creme fraiche mixture and top with bacon and caramelized onion. Slide onto pizza stone and bake for 12 minutes or until golden brown. Sprinkle with a nice finishing salt over top, such as Maldon or Fleur de Sel.
Garnish with fresh chives then slice and serve immediately.
HAVE MERCY!
Tracy – Hooray for a FULL HOUSE flashback!! 🙂
What a gorgeous crust! My husband’s from Alsace and each time we go back to France, Tarte Flambee dinners are always on the itinerary, they pair really well with Gewurtztraminer or Tokay Pinot Gris. Yum!
Danielle – umm. Can I go with you?!!
I love “Flammekuche” or Tarte Flambe, as I lived close to Strassbourg for a long time. I have an easier recipe for you, where you don’t need to wait for the dough to rise and you can pretty much make it on the spot, this is how they were teaching me in Alsace:
http://www.petite-indulgence.com/2010/06/elsaesser-flammekuche-tarte-flambee.html
Also you should try and make a sweet version, use thinly sliced apples and cinnamon and you have a dessert!
Katja – Thanks for the recipe. When I originally made this for the dinner party I used a recipe that had milk and beer in it. It was a lovely crust too. More like a cracker. It was a one day thing also.
I so wish I had remembered to pick the wild chives from my friends garden last week! I remember seeing them and getting very excited and telling her to remind me to pick them before I left, but one cup of tea led to another and I left blissfully unaware of my loss. Sigh. Your pizza looks fantastic! Have you ever tried freezing the pizza dough? I’m not sure I can eat that much pizza in a week, no matter how lovely it is 😀
Anna – Come on over! I have tons.
Ahh this looks so yummy.
Oh this is a great pizza idea. I love it! I can taste the creamy goodness right now. Thanks for sharing!
This sounds lovely. I’m always up for alternative ‘pizza’ ideas. Being from NY, Hubs likes the plain ole thing, so I’ve taken it upon myself to broaden his horizons 🙂 I think this will definitely end up on the menu.
Sarah – Good work. There is something magical about a simple red-sauced pizza but I assure you this will not disappoint.
oh! how yummy! this is such a great rainy-weather recipe. i’ll definitely try this out with the homemade creme fraiche.
great photos, too!
This looks absolutely delicious. I can’t wait to make this. Thanks.
Also-gorgeous photos!
Sounds really good. I know that in theory bacon makes everything better, but I don’t eat bacon. I’d like to make this pizza, but I’m wondering if it will still be good without it?
Anna – I’m sure it would be great without the bacon too. I would caramelize the onions in butter and up the salt. If you have parmesean you can finish with a fine shaving over top to give a nice savory unami flavor. Enjoy!
This looks lovely! Yum!
Tonight I’m taking pizza for dinner to some friends with a newborn, and I was thinking I’d do a kid-friendly version for their toddler and a grown-up version to be fancy. This will be my grown-up version. It looks so good!
I have been obsessed with pizza with white sauce for a while now- perhaps it’s my desire to be unique. In any case, I love this idea, not mention anything with bacon is a win in my book!
The picture of the nutmeg is FANTASTIC!
A resturaunt opened a few months ago that serves about 5 or 6 different tart flambees. It had become a great alternative to pizza night! Thanks for sharing the recipe.
I love tarte flambee and also its near relative, pissaladière.
Lovely with a simple salad and a glass of white wine.
This is such a beautiful post. Swoon!
Nomnomnom. thanks for sharing the recipe.
I have been a little obsessed with making creme fraiche lately, and this looks like a fabulous excuse to keep the batches coming! Thanks. 😉
Britt – I just saw your post. Stunning images.
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I am in LOVE with that nutmeg photo! The pizza looks pretty great too – though my last attempt as pizza dough was quite disastrous. I have to make this though, I adore a pizza without tomato sauce or cheese. Lovely!
I love the pizza recipe and have been thinking of making homemade pizza dough at home ever since one of my co-workers made some homemade pizza for family meal at my restaurant the other day. I am definitely going to give your dough recipe a shot. Thanks for sharing!
This is exactly the type of “pizza” we like. The non-pizza pizza AKA: tarte flambée
How lovely, yum!
I was slightly suspicious of this recipe but am so very glad I tried it. I loved it! the husband loved it! even the 2-year-old loved it! thanks
I was slightly suspicious of this recipe but am so very glad I tried it. I loved it! My husband loved it! Even the 2-year-old loved it! thanks
I’m a bit suspicious of a recipe that calls for 2 cups of water in a pizza/bread dough, and 1 teaspoon yeast for 4 cups of flour. Is tarte flambe supposed to have thin and brittle crust? The picture in this blog doesn’t appear to be so.
Mags – It’s safest to go by the weight measurement. It is a wet dough but not too soppy you can’t handle it. The yeast is correct as it has a long rise time allowing to yeast to multiply many times over. The long hydration accounts for the volume of the finished dough. I’m going to retest it today and have a friend who is going to do the same. If the dough feels a bit too wet I would just add a touch more flour. I will report back if there are any necessary changes. Thanks for your comment!
hah! i have all of these ingredients currently in my fridge, including a pizza crust dough ball from trader joe’s (i’m not as dough savvy). i think i’ll be making tarte flambee this weekend!
attempting the dough tonight! very excited! when i made the tarte flambee before, even though it was with store-bought dough, it was a huge sucess! absolutely delicious combination of flavors! now i am making the dough but putting ingredients from the fridge on top. ie- fresh mozzarella, yellow cherry tomatoes and prosciutto! maybe one day i’ll make the whole recipe together. 🙂