Onion and Bacon Tart (Tarte Flambée)
French Cheese Meat Dishes Oven Recipes
Alsatian tart. A kind of French pizza. This tart was born in old bakeries. The baker would check if the ovens were hot enough by rolling out a small piece of dough thin and topping it only with fromage blanc, onion and bacon (lardons). If the oven was properly heated, the tart would bake almost instantly, the edges nearly charring. With the oven being so well heated, the onion and bacon could be added raw, as they would cook quickly. Since our ovens can't reach such temperatures, I prefer to lightly cook the onion and bacon before putting them on the tart. The traditional shape is rectangular, thin, without thick edges like pizza.
Let me also make the official introductions 😊 Its name is Tarte Flambée Gratinée (because I also added cheese over the cream).
Ingredients
500g bread dough (you can use French bread dough or pizza dough)
4 tablespoons sour cream/crème fraîche (25% fat)
100g bacon (6 thin slices)
100g cheese
1 small onion (approx. 50g)
ground black pepper, nutmeg
Yield: 2 large tarts; Servings: 2-4
How to prepare onion and bacon tart (tarte flambée)
- Cut the bacon into thin strips. Cut the onion into thin rings. Grate the cheese.
- In a small pan, place the bacon on low heat and let it render its fat, then you can turn up the heat and leave it just until it starts to lightly brown, without becoming crispy - it will finish in the oven. Remove the bacon from the pan and in its place, in the rendered fat, add the onion which you sauté briefly, just until it softens a bit. Towards the end I added a few drops of vinegar (1/2 teaspoon) to intensify the color of the red onion.
- On a floured surface, divide the dough into two equal pieces.
- Roll out thin rectangular sheets (this is the traditional shape, but you can give it any shape you want, and if you like edges like pizza you can leave them a bit thicker and roll only the middle thin). Place the sheets on a baking tray.
- Spread a thin layer of sour cream on each sheet (about 2 tablespoons/sheet), using the back of the spoon to level it. Sprinkle the cheese evenly. Then scatter the bacon and onion over the entire tart. Grind black pepper on top and grate a little nutmeg.
- Bake the tart at 250°C (or your oven's maximum) until the topping starts to bubble (about 5-7 minutes). Then switch to grill at maximum (heat from above) and leave until the edges of the tart are nicely browned. During this time watch the tart, as there's a short time between browning and burning.
- Remove the tart and cut it into squares with a large knife with a wide blade. Serve the Alsatian tart warm, with a fresh salad.
Thinly rolled dough
Thicker rolled dough with sour cream and cheese
Scatter bacon and onion
Baked thicker tart
Baked thinner tart
