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Here’s an easy recipe for a delicious onion tart that is popular on both the German and French sides of the Rhine River. It is variously known as tarte flambée, flammekueche or flammkuchen depending on where you are. By any name this is essentially an onion and bacon pizza or flatbread.  

Back in the day, in Alsace, flammekueche was often assembled on Sunday mornings, dropped off, on the way to church, at the local communal oven for baking and then picked up on the way home. 

The Demo Kitchen has made it simple for you by using a sheet of storebought frozen puff pastry for the crust but if you prefer you can use your favorite pizza dough recipe instead. Just make sure whatever you use is very thin, not unlike Chicago thin-crust pizza. 

The rest is easy and before you know it, you have a nice little snack. Serve it with a green salad for a light lunch or dinner. Whatever you do, make sure you have an appropriate beverage. We love to serve this with a rich, Alsace pinot gris or vibrant dry riesling. Crémant d'Alsace is also a great choice but don’t neglect beer. 

Alsace has a long brewing tradition, and working in that tradition, Binny’s has joined forces with Goldfinger and Pollyanna, two local breweries that definitely know their way around a lager, to bring you Bank of the Rhine Alsatian-Style Lager. This excellent collaboration features the Alsatian hops Strisselspalt and Barbe Rouge to serve as counterpoint to a mash bill based on a French origin barley from Sugar Creek Malt Company along with caramelized French malts from Malteries Franco-Belges. The result is a rich, malty, amber brew that will be perfect with the sweet, meltingly tender onions and smokey bacon.  

Do yourself and your beer loving friends a favor. Make this simple onion tarte and crack open a Bank of the Rhine. You’re gonna love it! 

Cheers! 

Tarte Flambée à l’Alsacéienne

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 sheet puff pastry, thawed
  
• 3 large onions, quartered and sliced
  
• 1 cup homemade or low-sodium chicken stock
• ½ cup crème fraîche
• kosher salt to taste
• freshly ground black pepper to taste
• freshly grated nutmeg, to taste
• ½ pound thick-cut bacon, cut into ¼’ strips 
  

DIRECTIONS:

1. On a lightly floured work surface, roll puff pastry to 1/8” thick. Transfer to a baking sheet. Prick pastry all over with a fork to prevent it from getting too puffy in the oven. If anything, overdo it. Cover and reserve in refrigerator until needed.  
2. Heat onions and stock in a saucepan over low heat. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until onions are very tender, about 30 minutes. Drain and discard any remaining liquid. Cool onions. Stir crème fraîche into the onions and season to taste with salt, pepper and a pinch of nutmeg. 
3. Meanwhile, blanch bacon strips in boiling water for 1 minute, strain, rinse with cold water and pat dry with paper towels. In a pan over medium-high heat sauté the blanched bacon for just a minute or two. Drain on paper towel. 
4. Preheat the oven to 400°F. 
5. Remove pastry from the refrigerator. Spread onion mixture to just shy of the edge of the puff pastry. Sprinkle with bacon and lightly push into the onions. 
6. Bake 20 minutes, turning the pan half way through, until pastry is golden and the topping is beginning to brown. 
7. Cut and serve immediately.