Easy Flammkuchen

Flammkuchen (French call it tarte flambée) is actually something I have had first time in Switzerland, so it has been a Swiss dish for me from the start.  I never tried it in France or Germany.  It's basically like a very thin pizza, but it feels much lighter to eat than a pizza.  This version I made is an easy version because I used a ready puff pastry, not even a usual pizza base or a dough.  If you want to make the dough yourself, there are few different recipes out there, however I hardly recommend to make this version with puff pastry because it's delicious.  I got this idea of using puff pastry from my dear neighbour R. and I made it many times since.  The real taste of flammkuchen is not just its dough, but the crème fraiche (sour cream) that is spread to the base of it.  The original version has some bacon and onions on top, however you can replace the meat with other kinds or try to put leeks instead of the onions.  I have tried several versions of this and it tasted good each time.
I cooked this one last weekend, because my daughter wanted to eat pizza for lunch and she was very hungry.  I only had some ready puff pastry in the fridge, so I decided to make a quick flammkuchen with minced beef.

I made only one flammkuchen but if you want to feed 2 adults, then double the recipe below.

Easy Flammkuchen

1 round puff pastry (33cm - app. 13'')

100 g créme fraiche (about 1/2 cup)

150 - 200 g minced beef ( about 1 cup)

1/2 of a medium tomato - diced

1 small onion - chopped

1 tablespoon of chopped parsley

Salt and pepper

Start with preheating your oven to 180° C(356° F).  Put the pastry on your baking tray and make holes on the pastry by using a fork.  You need to do this in order to prevent the dough to rise too much.  Then spread the crème fraiche over the pastry and put your onions, meat and tomatoes.  I don't recommend to put too much tomato on it, because it will make the pastry too juicy and then the flammkuchen won't be crispy enough.  Last step is to sprinkle the parsley on top and season with some salt and freshly milled black pepper.  Put it in the oven for about 15-18 minutes until the pastry is looking nice golden brown color.  Serve it warm.  Enjoy!