Flammekueche for the Summer

Have you heard of Flammkuchen before ? Or maybe Tarte Flambée? Well, they are the same thing really- except that Flammkuchen is in German and Tarte Flambée is in French… and because it is an Alsatian speciality the spelling can also be Flammekueche. For the sake of simplicity, I’m going to use just one name- let’s go with Flammekueche since it would only be fair to Alsatian culinary traditions.

Having lived in France for many years, I had heard about this famous gastronomical speciality for so long but I never really got around to trying it until only a few years ago in Switzerland! After my first bite I really started wondering why it took me so long to try what turned out to be one of the most yummiest foods ever!!! And when I researched the recipe, I wondered again why I hadn’t tried making it!!! The recipe looked so simple, full of delicious ingredients- crème fraiche, fromage blanc, onions, etc…on a crispy thin crust coming hot straight out of the oven mmmm mmmmm! And even though I do not have a wood-fired oven at home (hah, I wish! Someday maybe), I did not hesitate to make this delicious speciality the other day and then enjoy it out under the sun… But since I personally tend to find Flammekueche to be a rather winter-y food, I did some twitches for a very decent summery version…recipe at bottom of post!

Also on another note, I would like to thank Nina from Nina’s kitchen for awarding me with an E the other day! Thank you very much!! If you haven’t visited her blog yet, please do- she cooks the yummiest looking food ever!!! As I understood I should pass on this E award to 5 other blogs, so here it goes:

Café Fernando- I am sure many of you have visited Cenk’s blog before. His is one of the first food blogs I discovered, filled with great photos, recipes and what I enjoy most is his writing- the reason why I am as addicted to his blog as I was over a year ago!

The girl who ate everything- Robyn’s blog happens to also be another of the first food blogs I discovered and I was charmed by her funny stories, mouthwatering photography, and her use of words such as “innards”, “nom nom” and “o hai” from Day 1!

Souvlaki for the Soul- This is a blog discovery made through Flickr. I think what got me hooked on Peter's blog other then beautiful photos and writing is his evident love for food. There just seems to be something so authentic and genuine and that is really what I appreciated most above anything else!

The shiro shoyu diaries- I actually first discovered this Pastry Chef’s work via Flickr. His creations have always amazed me, everything is so creative and classy and he really has an innovative edge which sets him apart from the regular & traditional. His culinary approach is really unique!

B comme Bon- Well this happens to be a French food blog, and even if you do not read French, I think the photos speak for a million words ! So do take a look, no matter what language you read- maybe a proof that love for food is universal with no barriers!

And here's the recipe for Flammekueche for the Summer:

Ingredients:

• Bread dough- if you want to save time, buy some ready made dough at your bakery
• Onions, chopped
• Creme fraiche
• Fromage blanc (which I think is Quark in English)
• Salt, pepper & nutmeg
• Rucola (rocket), dill, cherry tomatoes

Making it:

Roll out the bread dough to an ultra thin layer and preheat oven to a very high heat. In a bowl, mix half creme fraiche and half fromage blanc (some recipes use only creme fraiche or a mix of both- I personally like a mix of both). Mix and add a drizzle of olive oil, salt, pepper and nutmeg. Spread a thick generous layer of this mixture over the bread dough and finish by sprinkling over the chopped onions. Bake in oven for 10 minutes. Once ready, serve with a mixture of rucola, dill and cherry tomatoes on top. Enjoy!

P.S: the original flammekueche recipe also includes bacon, but I'm trying to be healthy so I omitted it from my summer recipe! (I even used 0%fat fromage blanc) You can of course add bacon if you wish!