The German Flammkuchen

It is finally time that I post something from the german cuisine again. I showed you few other recipes here, somehow most of them having onions in their ingredients list. Well, this one can also be modified with onions, lots of them, as well though there is no limit as to which toppings you can use. I am talking about the german pizza, which is called the flammkuchen.

Coming from the Alsace region and the western parts of Germany, this dish made its way to be a national dish. There are even few places in Munich which specializes in flammkuchen.

The flammkuchen itself tastes a bit bland, the basis of it is after all a thinly rolled out base of bread dough, but then the ingredients on top of it make it to a real feast.  Depending on your choice of toppings, you can have it vegan, vegetarian or with meat.

I think one of the best known is the one with red onions and bacon stripes, though as said- it is perfectly fine to experiment and try out anything.

The preparation is a bit time consuming, though if you invite friends over and turn it into a party, depending on the health restrictions in your area of course, it is definitely more fun to make.

Serves 2-4

Preparation time: 20 minutes

Baking time: 10-12 minutes

FOR THE DOUGH:

200g Flour

2 Tbsp Olive oil

125ml Water

Pinch of salt

FOR THE TOPPING:

150g Bacon

2 Onions

2 Cups of crème fraîche

Salt

Pepper

A bit of nutmeg

Juice of one lemon

A handful of chives, chopped (optional)

A handful of rocket (optional)

Tomatoes (optional)

Since the dough should rest for about 15 minutes let’s start with it.

Sieve the flour to a bowl. Pour the olive oil and water, add a generous pinch of salt and knead everything until the consistency of the dough is elastic and smooth. Cover with a cloth and leave it for ca 15 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 220°C.

While the dough is resting, cut the bacon in small cubes. Peel the onions and cut into stripes. Place the crème fraîche into a bowl and season with salt, pepper, lemon juice and nutmeg. Stir in the freshly chopped chives. Set aside.

Once the dough is ready, scrape it out of the bowl and cut in half. Place one half on the working space, generously sprinkled with flour, then move it to on the baking sheet, though I would suggest to roll out the dough straight on the baking sheet. It is less messy and frustrating this way.

Once you have the two thinly rolled out, generously distribute the crème fraîche on both doughs, and then cover with the onions and bacon. For the vegetarian option with crème fraîche and rocket, distribute it only one one dough and add the rocket on the other only after the dough is out of the oven.

Depending how much space they take on the baking form, you can either place both of them in the oven at the same time or one after the other. Here is to remember that in order for them to be crispy, you should switch to circulating air so the heat can be spread more evenly. If you bake one at the time, or two spread on one baking tray, use top and bottom heat.

Bake for 10-12 minutes until the dough is crispy. Serve right away, with tomatoes and rocket on the side.

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