Tarte Flambe 3 ways
Anyone following me on instagram will know that back in May, I was confined to barracks for a week while my kids studied for exams. My role was to gently (and sometimes not so gently) cajole the kids, keep the “breaks” to a minimum, and make favourite snacks at periodic intervals to keep spirits up. One of the things requested by my son was tart flambe.
A quick google, and I found most recipes for tarte flambe uses pizza dough as a base. Jamie Oliver has my go to pizza recipe, I used half the quantities on his page:
Basic Dough (i.e. half of the Jamie Oliver Quantities):
- 500g strong bread flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 7g sachet of yeast
- 1/2 tablespoon of sugar
- 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
- 325ml warm water
Topping:
- 150 ml Buttermilk
- 80g Cream Cheese
- 1/4 teaspoon of salt
- salt 1 onion very thinly sliced (approx 90g)
- 180g finely chopped streaky bacon
This amount of dough would have been enough to make three pretty large pizza dough versions, so to avoid us eating them for the remainder of the holiday, I kept a third of the dough aside, and made versions with flat bread (wraps) and puff pastry, both of which I already had in the fridge.
So going head to head for the Paint Sew Glue Chew ultimate Tarte Flambe award is: 1) Pizza Dough; 2) Flat Bread and 3) Puff Pastry
The Topping
For all three versions I used the same topping:
Authentic tarte flame uses white onions, but being a rebel, I prefer red. Slice one large onion (around 90g) as thinly as you can without removing a finger!
Take around 180g of lean streaky bacon. Again, authentic recipes call for lardons, but for me the fat to meat ratio isn’t right, so I prefer streaky bacon.
Chop into small pieces.
Pizza Dough Tarte Flambe
We love the waitrose version of tart flambe, but we do have a problem with it. It is seriously tiny – fine for a snack, but not a full meal. Well definitely not with our greedy family. My hope was that the pizza dough version would be the favourite, as its the healthiest, and will be the most filling.
To make the pizza dough: Place the flour and salt in a large bowl ( or directly on the work top if you are feeling brave). Add the warm water, oil, sugar and yeast to a jug, and allow to stand for a few minutes.
Combine all the ingredients in a bowl until you have a dryish dough.
It needs to be rolled very thin.
As you can see, mine was around 3mm thick.
Combine the cream cheese, salt and buttermilk topping, spreading around half over the pizza base.
Scatter the thinly sliced red onions.
And finally a generous scattering of bacon.
Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes, at 200 degrees or until the dough is cooked.
Flat Bread Tarte Flambe
The remaining 1/2 of the toppings should be spread between the puff pastry and flat bread.
Puff Pastry Tarte Flambe
Use the same approach as with the pizza dough above. Roll out the puff pastry to a few mm thick, and spread the topping. 
Bake all three in a hot oven at 200 degree celsius until the base is cooked.
The flat bread will take less time – around 5-10 mins. Both pizza dough took around 10 mins, and the puff pastry took around 15mins.
And the winner is…
Although not in any way authentic! All three were really tasty – (but lets face it – cream cheese, bacon and onion will be delicious whatever they are served on!).
For convenience, and a super thin base, the flat bread base scores massive points;
As a filling and cheaper, healthier dinner, the pizza base wins;
And as a treat little snack, for more special occasions, or as a starter the puff pastry comes out ahead.
And the verdict: A tarte flambe for any occasion! I think all three of these will be regular visitors to the PaintSewGlueChew Table. Which one would you choose?