Flammkuchen – Thin Flatbread with Bacon, Onion and Sour Cream

Put 300 g flour and 5 g salt in a bowl, then add 150 ml lukewarm water and 20 ml oil. Mix with a spoon, then knead by hand for about 5 minutes, until the dough is firm, smooth and elastic, with no dry flour remaining. Shape into a ball; reserve the remaining 20 g flour for rolling instead of adding it to the dough now.

Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and leave the dough at room temperature for about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 250°C on the conventional setting, without a fan, for at least 30 minutes; position a rack in the lower part of the oven. Prepare 2 metal baking sheets without a coating, each with a flat surface of at least 30 × 40 cm, and brush each with 5 ml oil. Leave the sheets outside the oven; the flatbreads will bake directly on the metal, without parchment paper.

While the dough rests, halve the onion and slice it into very thin half-moons about 1 mm thick, then separate them with your fingers. Cut the raw smoked bacon into thin strips about 3 mm thick and about 2 cm long so they cook through along with the dough. Mix the sour cream with the remaining 1 g salt and all the pepper. Divide the seasoned sour cream, onion and bacon into two equal portions, one for each flatbread.

Once rested, divide the dough into 2 equal pieces and keep one covered. Set aside 10 g of the reserved flour for the first flatbread: use it to dust the work surface and rolling pin, adding it gradually as you roll. Roll the dough into a rectangle with rounded corners, about 30 × 35 cm and an even thickness of about 2 mm, without a thick rim. Loosely roll it around the rolling pin, transfer it to the first oiled baking sheet and gently straighten it out, taking care not to tear the thin center.

Spread half the seasoned sour cream over the first flatbread, leaving a border of about 1 cm. Distribute half the onion and bacon evenly over it, right to the edges of the sour cream. Separate the bacon strips and onion half-moons instead of piling them up; a thin layer of toppings lets the base cook through and the top brown evenly.

Place the first baking sheet on the rack in the lower part of the preheated oven and bake at 250°C on the conventional setting, without a fan, for about 12–15 minutes. The edges should be golden brown and crisp, the onion soft with browned tips, and the thin bacon strips cooked through and browned in places, with some of the fat rendered. Lift an edge with a thin spatula: the underside should also be dry and browned, without soft, damp spots; if it is pale, bake for another 2–3 minutes. While this flatbread bakes, prepare the second one as described in the next step.

While the first batch bakes, roll out the remaining dough, using the remaining 10 g flour for dusting. Keep the same dimensions of about 30 × 35 cm and thickness of about 2 mm, then transfer the flatbread to the second oiled baking sheet. Spread over the remaining sour cream, again leaving a border of about 1 cm, then distribute the remaining onion and bacon evenly over it. Put the second sheet in only after removing the first, so both flatbreads bake at the same oven level.

Remove the first flatbread and immediately put the second sheet on the same lower rack, keeping the oven at 250°C on the conventional setting, without a fan. Bake the second flammkuchen for about 12–15 minutes, until it shows the same signs of being done: a dry, browned base, crisp edges, soft onion and browned bacon; if the underside is pale, add 2–3 minutes. The total baking time for both batches is about 25–30 minutes, excluding any brief extra baking. Slice and serve the first flatbread while the second one bakes.

Slide each baked flatbread off its sheet onto a cutting board, loosening it with a wide spatula if needed. Cut into 4 pieces and serve immediately, while the base is at its crispest; do not stack the hot flatbreads, as the steam will soften the dough. The full recipe makes 8 pieces, or 4 servings of 2 pieces each, equivalent to half a large flatbread.