No wood-fired oven required: White Bread Tarte Flambée
The French version of pizza — tarte flambée — translates to "pie baked in the flames." The recipe originally came about as a means of testing the heat level in a wood-fired oven. A thin sheet of dough was covered with crème fraîche, cheese and onions, slipped into a massive oven, and if the temperature was exactly right, you had yourself a fresh piece of flatbread covered in rich, melted cheese in less time than it takes to sing the Marseillaise.
How irresistible does that sound?
Well, if you are missing the requisite kiln, despair not. You can actually make something really darn close to a tarte flambée all with a few slices of white bread (yes, really!) and some old-fashioned ingenuity. Get ready for this...
You will need (for 4 servings):
- 4 slices white bread (or wheat if you're feeling fancy!)
- ¾ cup crème fraîche
- 3.5 oz prosciutto
- ¼ cup cream
- ½ an onion, diced
- 1½ cups shredded cheese
- chives
Here's how:
- Remove the crusts from the bread and roll the slices flat with a rolling pin. Place on a baking sheet.
- Add the crème fraîche, prosciutto, cream, diced onion and cheese to a mixing bowl and combine the ingredients until well mixed.
- Spread the cheese mixture onto the slices of bread and bake at 390 °F for 15 minutes. Garnish with chives.
If you've mastered your bread-rolling technique and fancy something sweet for dessert, give these Apple Cinnamon Rolls or Banana Chocolate Rolls a try.
But for now... the melted cheese is calling. Enjoy!