Gluten Free Flammkuchen with Fennel and Onion
Gluten Free Flammkuchen
Like I mentioned before, we wanted to create some Christmas market specials on the blog. And it took a few tries, but I finally got the right dough for the job. In case you don’t know flammkuchen is a dish originally from the Alsace region. So, it’s half German and half French. And can be compared to a really thin pizza, usually covered with some crème fraiche, onions and bacon. There are more combinations and toppings possible but this is the most well-known. It’s something that you can always find at the German Christmas market and I always look forward to (certain exceptions are made during the Christmas Holiday). But now I made my own gluten free flammkuchen and couldn’t be happier.
Tip!
Just keep rolling out the dough, you might think it’s not possible the get it thin enough and big enough to cover the baking tray. But it is, just keep at it.
Fennel and Onion
As I mentioned above onion and bacon is the most well-known topping for flammkuchen. I also decided to add fennel to the mix. I was curious to see how the fennel and onion would caramelize together and was pleasantly surprised. You can definitely taste both, just make sure you get them about equal in size. The bacon adds the right amount of salt to each bite. Should you want to make a vegetarian version you can remove the bacon. But be sure to add more salt to the fennel and onion during the caramelization process. Otherwise it might turn out too bland.
Not completely Lactose Free
You might wonder why I bother with lactose free cream cheese while still using butter in other parts of the recipe? I discovered that in most situations my body functions better without lactose. That being the main reason why I prefer to use lactose free cream cheese. On the other hand, I still use butter in a bunch of my recipes. Butter contains very small trace amounts of lactose, which is why I don’t experience any problems when I consume it. Also having to choose between highly processed vegetable oils turned into margarine and butter… I’ll always choose butter. It’s less processed and at the end of the day a healthier option than margarine.
Homemade Christmas market Goodies:
Gluten Free Flammkuchen with Caramelized Fennel and Onion
Equipment
- Baking tray 37 x 25cm
Ingredients
Dough
- 1 cup tapioca flour
- 1 cup cassava flour
- ½ cup water
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 egg
Topping
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1 onion halved and sliced
- 1 fennel halved core removed and sliced
- ½ tsp salt
- 100 gram bacon bits
- 150 gram lactose free cream cheese
- ¼ tsp nutmeg
Instructions
- Mix all the ingredients for the dough together till it forms into a smooth ball. Cover and set aside for later.
- In a pan fry the bacon in its own fat till half way done. Remove the bacon and set aside on a paper towel. Use the bacon fat to caramelize the onions in
- Melt the butter in the pan with the bacon fat and add the onions and fennel to start caramelizing. Stir regularly and add the salt after 15 minutes and continue for another 10 to 15 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 220°C.
- While the onion and fennel are caramelizing, you can roll out the dough. Place the dough between 2 pieces of parchment paper with plenty of tapioca flour so it doesn’t stick. I used the backside of my baking tray to help get the right size for the dough. With a rolling pin roll out the dough as thin as possible covering as much as possible from the tray.
- Once done flip the baking tray over and transfer the rolled-out dough with bottom parchment paper to the tray.
- In a small bowl mix lactose free cream cheese with nutmeg.
- Cover the dough with the cream cheese leaving a thin strip empty on the edge.
- Once the onion and fennel are done, spread over the dough and sprinkle the bacon on top.
- Place in the oven for 15 minutes. The edges will crisp up and nicely. Remove and slice in half and enjoy!
If the dough is crumbly, do I add more water?
Hi Maddison, adding one more egg should do the trick!