RECIPE: Alsatian Pizza/Tarte Flambee

Alsatian Pizza/Tarte Flambee
Makes 1-12" tart

This peasant dish is found all over Alsace, in the home and in restaurants. It was probably originally made to use left over dough and a quick meal.

Dough:
1 1/4 teaspoons lavender honey
1 packet dry yeast
1 2/3 cup flour
1 teaspoon fleur de sel
1 tablespoon vegetable oil plus more for the bowl
1/4 cup luke warm water
Topping:
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
1 small onion, sliced into rings
salt
1/2 cup ricotta cheese
2/3 cup crème fraiche
1/3 cup Muenster Gerome
Pepper

Dough:
Pour water into a small bowl and add honey, stir until dissolved. Add yeast, stir once, let stand 5 minutes until it begins to blossom. Add flour and salt to a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Add yeast water, oil, 1/2 cup water. Process until dough forms a ball. Scatter some flour on counter. Knead the dough for a minute or so until it is smooth and elastic. Oil a large bowl with oil, place dough ball in center. Cover with plastic wrap. Place in a warm place and let rise until it doubles in size, about 2 hours. Preheat oven to 37F. Remove raised dough from bowl. Place on pizza stone. Press and stretch the dough into a 12” round. Do not roll the dough, this would remove the air pockets.

Note: The dough can be made up until this point and frozen. Defrost for half an hour before baking.

Tart:
Place in oven and cook until the top is golden brown. Take out of the oven and flip the pizza to the other side. In a saucepan, heat vegetable oil over medium heat. Add onions and salt, sauté until lightly browned. Mix the ricotta, crème fraiche, and Muenster Gerome cheese together. Smooth the cheeses over the dough. Sprinkle pepper over cheese. Spread onions over the top. You can add cooked bacon, ham, sautéed mushrooms, or anything else you want on top of that if you want. Place back into the oven and bake for 15 minutes until the cheese melts and the edges are crisp and slightly burnt.

Note: Muenster Gerome is from Alsace. Unlike typical Munster cheese, this is quite strong with a cumin flavor. If you can’t find it, replace it with any hard cheese like Gruyere.