Apple rosemary sausage Flammkuchen is a combination of sweet, savoury, crunchy and creamy. Italian salsiccia, aromatic rosemary and sun-dried tomatoes, apple, hazelnuts and mozzarella on a crispy and golden crust make a gorgeous lunch, dinner or snack. Germany meets Italy for a quick delicious meal.
I love Flammkuchen. In fact, since I’ve tried my first Flammkuchen, I knew it wouldn’t be the last. Wink. Crispy and thin dough with delicious toppings. Flammkuchen is so versatile just like pizza. But it’s way easier, quicker and straightforward to make.
Look at this great combo or mix of toppings. I don’t know where to start. Apple and sausage. Yes! Flavourful sun-dried tomatoes and rosemary. Yes! And let’s not forget the creamy mozzarella and crunchy hazelnuts. Yummy. A typical German recipe with an Italian twist.
By combining sweet with savoury, creamy with crunchy enhances the structural complexity. When eating food of different textures it enters your awareness, makes the food more interesting and more enjoyable. In other words, this apple rosemary sausage Flammkuchen is a fun-to-eat rollercoaster of flavours and textures.
More olive oil instead of flour
If you are on your way home and you are thinking of what to make for dinner, I have the answer for you. Flammkuchen! Quick (for a meal made from scratch) and delicious dinner. In fact, the dough is ready in 30 minutes, resting time included. Isn’t that great? Another great thing about this dough is that I used plenty of olive oil rather than flour by kneading and rolling out. As a result, the dough is moister and becomes a lovely flavour.
Once you have the dough ready, simply pick your favourite toppings. You can either assemble it speedily on your own or with your friends for fun. Since I wanted to make it as Italian as possible, I picked salsiccia, sun-dried tomatoes, rosemary and mozzarella. It is just screaming: “Italiaaaa” and “Eat meeee!” Wink.
Additionally, did you know, to get the best out of mozzarella is to rip it rather than slice it? Away with the knife and use your hands to rip it apart. Simply follow its natural fault lines. Ripped mozzarella, besides looking rustic and cute, will absorb also more flavours. For instance the lovely sausage oils. Mmmm. Delicious.
If you fancy more Flammkuchen recipes, then check out these classic onion bacon Flammkuchen or this autumn pumpkin Flammkuchen. Or you can put together any topping you fancy most.
Ingredients for an apple rosemary sausage Flammkuchen (30 x 45 cm):
- 250 g flour
- 125 ml lukewarm water
- 50-60 ml olive oil
- 3-4 pinches of salt
- 150 g sour cream
- 180 g salsiccia
- 1 apple
- 15-20 hazelnuts (halved)
- 3 rosemary sprigs
- 1 Buffalo mozzarella
- 10 sun-dried tomatoes
To begin, in a bowl combine flour and salt. Make a well in the centre of it and pour in the water and olive oil. Mix together until well combined. Then, flip the dough onto your working surface. Grease your hands (as needed) with some olive oil and knead the dough for 5 minutes.
Once the dough is smooth, form a ball, place it in a bowl, cover with foil and allow to rest for 25 minutes.
In the meantime, prepare the sausage and all of the toppings. Slice the sausages into slices or smaller chunks. In a smaller frying pan, drizzle some olive oil and add the rosemary needles from one sprig. Once the oil gets hot, add the salsiccia and cook for 7 minutes (flipping them halfway through). Then, remove the salsiccia and rosemary needles out of the pan (keeping the oil) and place them into a small bowl.
Preheat the oven to 230º C. Furthermore, chop the sun-dried tomatoes, place them in a small bowl, add a spoon of the oil from the pan and stir. Let it soak until ready to use. Wash the apple, halve it, core it and cut it into around 3 mm thick slices.
Next, take the dough and roll it out directly on lightly greased parchment paper. Grease the rolling pin, too. You can make any shape you like, but make sure it’s around 3 mm thick.
Then, spread the sour cream onto the dough, by leaving 1 cm edge. Add the sausage, apple slices and rosemary needles. Rip the mozzarella with your hands and place the chunks onto empty spots.
Last but not least, add sun-dried tomatoes and halved hazelnuts. Put in the oven on the lower rack and bake for the first 10 minutes or until the bottom turns crispy and golden brown. For the last 5 minutes, transfer it to the top rack. From now on check on it every minute as the crust can quickly burn.
Finally, take the apple rosemary sausage Flammkuchen out of the oven cut into pieces and serve while still hot and crisp, directly on a cutting board. A nice green salad pairs wonderfully with it.
Enjoy.
