Smoked salmon tarte flambée with dilly-parsley pesto

This delicious, crispy smoked salmon tarte flambée is a Nordic-inspired version of Alsatian flammekueche (also called tarte flambée to be more French) with savory and fresh toppings. It starts with a thin tarte flambée crust (or extra-thin pizza crust), topped with a thin layer of tangy cream sauce. Finishing the toppings, we have bright pickled red onions, salty capers, smoked salmon, and dollops of a fresh dill & parsley pesto. This dish comes together fast, especially if you prep the pickled onions and sauce ahead of time.

Tips for making this smoked salmon tarte flambée

• Toast your pine nuts before making the pesto to boost their nutty, buttery flavor.
• Make the pickled onions ahead of time
• You can use either cold- or hot-smoked salmon for this recipe. They are not the same (see below), but either works well depending on what is available where you live.
• If you are using cold-smoked salmon (the type that looks raw and comes refrigerated), add the salmon after the tart comes out of the oven to preserve its original flavor. I have also tried cooking the tart 1 minute more after adding the smoked salmon. The salmon took on a cooked appearance, and was still tasty.
• If serving to kids under 5, be sure to fully cook cold-smoked smoked salmon.
• If you can’t find crème fraîche and fromage blanc, use sour cream as a substitute for both.
• For the fresh herbs, include leaves and fine stems only.

What is tarte flambée?

Tarte flambée, flammekueche in Alsace, or Flammkuchen in Germany is Alsace’s answer to pizza. You can recognize flammekueche by its thin crust, cream sauce, and usually onion and lardon (thick-cut bacon pieces) topping. To serve, you usually cut into square pieces rather than the usual triangular pizza slices. The typical variations can include with munster or Emmental cheese or with mushrooms. The name has “flamm” or flame in it because it’s cooked near the flames in a wood-fired oven. At home, just get your oven really hot.

So, my smoked salmon tarte flambée here is far from the traditional topping, but the bright acidity and fresh herb pesto make this version definitely worth trying!

Types of smoked salmon

Comparing smoked salmon that I got in France versus in the US, I noticed a distinct difference and started wondering why! In France, smoked salmon looks and feels like raw salmon. It’s sold refrigerated and has a relatively short shelf life. The smoked salmon I was used to in the US, on the other hand, looked cooked and was sold at room temperature and didn’t expire for a few years.

Both are absolutely delicious, but what makes these two different? The answer turns out to be rather simple: the one that looks cooked is cooked. It’s cold-smoked versus hot-smoked salmon.

In both cases, the manufacturer salts the salmon before smoking, either by dry salt or brining. In France (and Europe in general) salmon is cold-smoked at about 30 °C (86 °F). The salt and smoke preserve the salmon, but it is not cooked. For the shelf-stable version I knew from America, the fish is vacuum-packed and cooked in the packaging. Prior to packing, the fish is smoked, but hot smoked in this case, at a temperature anywhere from 65 to 150 °C (150 to 302 °F). So, yes, the salmon that looked cooked was indeed cooked.

If you enjoyed this smoked salmon tarte flambée…

You might also enjoy this authentic French quiche Lorraine (right next to Alsace😉), my caramelized onion tarte tatin with goat cheese, figs, and olives, or this savory zucchini & ricotta tart with tomato-basil sauce.

All really yummy tarts—but almost anything in pie form is delicious in my book!

If you try my smoked salmon tarte flambée, let me know what you think in the comments!

Print Recipe

Smoked salmon tarte flambée with dilly-parsley pesto

A bright & fresh version of the classic Alsatian tarte flambée

Prep Time20 minutes mins

Cook Time25 minutes mins

Total Time50 minutes mins

Course: Dinner

Cuisine: European

Keyword: dill, smoked salmon

Servings: 3

Ingredients

• 3 tarte flambée (flammekueche) crusts or extra-thin pizza crusts, 110 g each, 31 cm/12 in diameter
• 75 g pickled red onions ingredients below
• 4 ½ tbsp capers drained
• 150 g smoked salmon cut into bite-sized pieces

Pickled onions:

• 1 small red onion very thinly sliced
• 500 ml (2 cups) boiling water
• 60 ml (¼ cup) cold water
• 60 ml (¼ cup) white vinegar
• 1 tsp salt
• ½ tsp whole black peppercorns

Pesto

• 30 g dill leaves and fine stems only
• 90 g parsley leaves and fine stems only
• 1 clove garlic chopped
• 1 tsp lemon zest
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 25 g (2½ tbsp) toasted pine nuts see note 1 for toasting
• 20 g (3 tbsp) grated Parmesan cheese
• 55 g olive oil
• ¼ tsp salt

Cream sauce

• 85 g (6 tbsp) crème fraîche (full fat)
• 120 g (8 tbsp) fromage blanc (full fat) see note 2 for substitute
• 1 tsp cornstarch
• ½ tsp salt
• Black pepper

Instructions

• Pickle the onions: Put the very thinly sliced onion in a colander and pour over the 500 ml (2 cups) boiling waterr. Put the onion slices in a jar. Add 60 ml (¼ cup) cold water and 60 ml (¼ cup) white vinegar. Stir in 1 tsp salt and ½ tsp whole black peppercorns. Make sure the onions are covered by the liquid and let stand at least 15 minutes. The onions and juice will turn pink as the onions become pickled.
• Preheat the oven to 250 °C with a grill rack in the lower part of the oven.
• Blend the pesto: Put all the pesto ingredients in a small food processor. Process until everything is well blended and finely chopped.
• Mix up the cream sauce: Mix together all the ingredients for the cream sauce in a small bowl.
• Top with cream sauce, onions, & capers: Put one of the crusts on a baking sheet with no edges (used to slide the tarte flambée into the oven). Spread about 65 g of the cream sauce over the crust, leaving about ½ cm without sauce around the edges. Sprinkle 25 g pickled onions and 1 ½ tbsp capers over the tart. Slide the tarte into the hot oven. Bake directly on the rack (not on the baking sheet for a crispier crust) for 6-7 minutes or until the cream sauce gets a few golden spots.
• Add smoked salmon & pesto: Take the tart out of the oven and add the smoked salmon and dollops of the dilly-parsley pesto on top. You may further bake the tart 1 minute if you want the salmon slightly cooked and the pesto warmed.
• Serve hot!

Notes

1. I toasted my pine nuts in the air fryer with a parchment liner on 150 °C for 5-7 minutes.
2. If you can’t find crème fraîche and fromage blanc, substitute both with sour cream, which will come close in fat content (the cream sauce in the recipe is about 17% fat).