Bar-Style Tarte Flambée (Alsatian Pizza With Fresh Cheese, Onions, and Bacon)
- Yield:Makes about 6 (10-inch) bar-style pies
- Active time:25 minutes
- Total time:25 minutes
- Rated:
This recipe appears in:
The Art of Tarte Flambée: Alsatian Pizza With Fromage Blanc, Bacon, and OnionsA bar-style Alsatian pie. [Photographs: Daniel Gritzer]
It looks like a pizza, it cooks like a pizza, but don't make the mistake of actually thinking it's a pizza. Tarte flambée, the Alsatian flatbread topped with fromage blanc (a fresh, tart, spreadable cheese), thinly sliced raw onions and bacon, is as Franco-Germanic in flavor as can be. This method delivers a crisp bar-style tart, cooked on a flour tortilla in a cast iron skillet, then browned under the broiler. It has a thin, cracker-like crust that is irresistible.
Note: If you can't find fromage blanc, a tangy fresh cheese, you can substitute the fromage blanc- and crème fraîche-mixture below with either 1 1/2 cups quark, or 3/4 cup buttermilk blended with 3/4 cup cream cheese.
Ingredients
- 1 cup fromage blanc (see note above)
- 1/2 cup crème fraîche (see note above)
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- Pinch freshly grated nutmeg
- Vegetable oil, for skillet
- 6 (10-inch) flour tortillas
- 1 medium white or yellow onion, very thinly sliced
- 1/4 pound sliced bacon, cut crosswise into thin strips
Directions
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1.
Adjust oven rack to 6 to 8 inches below broiler element and preheat broiler to high. In a medium bowl, whisk together fromage blanc and crème fraîche together until thoroughly incorporated. Season with salt and pepper; whisk in nutmeg.
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2.
Heat 1 teaspoon oil in a large cast iron skillet over high heat until shimmering. Reduce heat to low and wipe out excess oil with a paper towel.
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3.
Working 1 tortilla at a time, place tortilla in skillet with the rougher textured-side facing down. Spread 1/4 cup fromage blanc mixture over tortilla all the way to the edges.
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4.
Scatter a small amount of onion on top, all the way to the edge.
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5.
Scatter small amount of bacon on top, all the way to the edge.
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6.
Place skillet under broiler and broil until bacon is cooked and tarte flambée is browned in spots, 2 to 4 minutes. Remove from oven. Using a small metal spatula, peek under bottom. If more crispness is desired, place skillet over medium-heat and cook, swirling tarte and peeking occasionally, until desired crispness is achieved. Slide tarte out onto a cutting board. Cut and serve immediately. Wipe out skillet and repeat with remaining tortillas and toppings.