Recipe: Bacon Cheese Tarte

This quick and simple but amazingly tasty flatbread recipe is based on Tarte Flambee (aka Flammekueche or Flammkuchen) a dish from the Alsace region where the culinary traditions of France and Germany blend with delicious results.

We’ve deviated from the classic recipe (le gasp!) by using mascarpone for extra richness combined with Greek yoghurt for tanginess. And to keep things easy for a weeknight snack, we have used pre-baked pizza crusts for the base.

Despite our grave insult to French-German foodies, this is a salty, nutty, cheesy comfort food we think you will love.

3 tbsp mascarpone cheese
3 tbsp Greek yoghurt
Pinch salt
Pinch nutmeg
Fresh ground pepper, to taste
4 slices double-smoked bacon, sliced into match sticks
½ medium sweet white onion, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon butter
150 g Gruyère cheese, grated
2 small pre-baked pizza crusts or flatbreads

Serves 2 as a snack

1. Pre-heat oven to 400F.
2. In a small bowl, combine mascarpone, yoghurt, salt, nutmeg, and pepper. Set aside.
3. In a large frying pan, sauté bacon over medium-high heat. When the bacon begins to brown, remove from pan and carefully blot off excess fat. Set aside.
4. In the same pan, sauté onions in remaining bacon fat and butter. When the onions soften and turn translucent, remove from pan. Set aside.
5. Spread a thin layer of mascarpone mixture on each pizza crust. Top with onions, bacon, and Gruyère.
6. Bake tartes in the oven for 6-7 minutes or until the Gruyère begins to bubble. Carefully slice and serve while warm.

Alternatives & Substitutions

• Instead of the mascarpone-yoghurt mixture, you can use crème fraîche to be more authentic or Mexican crema for a tangier flavour.
• Feel free to experiment with Comté or any other nutty Alpine cheese, instead of Gruyère.
• You can use easily substitute homemade or store-bought pizza dough for the pre-baked crusts. Just keep in mind you may have to adjust the baking time.
• For a vegetarian version of this recipe, replace the bacon with sauteed pink oyster, lion’s mane, or bear’s head mushrooms, available from our amazing friends at Noki Farms.