Pissaladière from Nice in the south of France. It looks like a pizza but in fact, it’s an onion tart with a lattice of anchovies dotted with black olives on top. It’s delicious served hot or cold.
The name pissaladière comes from a salted fish puree called pissalat, made from baby anchovies and sardines, which was used to flavour the tart originally. Catching of these immature fish is almost completely banned limiting catches by size and season and only in a small area of the coast around Nice.
The majority of recipes nowadays including this one replace the pissalat with anchovy fillets.
Pissaladière
Pissaladière from Nice in the south of France. Pizza like onion tart with anchovies and black olives. Delicious hot or cold.
Ingredients
- 200 g strong white bread flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tsp yeast dried, fast-action
- 150 ml water luke warm
- 1 tbsp olive oil
For the topping
- 4 tbsp olive oil plus extra for drizzling
- 1 kg onion thinly sliced
- sprigs thyme
- 2 Tomato skinned and chopped
- 2 cans anchovy fillets 80g, drained, fat ones halved lengthways
- 1 handful black olives
Instructions
- Tip the flour, salt and yeast into a bowl. Pour in the water, spoon in the oil and mix to a soft dough. Turn out on to a lightly floured surface and knead for 5 minutes until the dough is smooth and no longer sticky.
- Return the dough to the bowl, cover with cling film or a damp tea towel and leave it to rise for 45 minutes to 1¼ hours or until the dough springs back when pressed. Don’t worry too much is it takes more or less time – it’s not critical for this relaxed recipe.
- While the dough is rising, heat the oil in a large, deep frying pan or sauté pan, throw in the onions and fry gently for about 10 minutes until softened but not browned, stirring from time to time.
- Sprinkle in the thyme and some salt and pepper, then tip in the tomatoes and stir well. Cover and cook gently for 45 minutes until the onions are meltingly soft, stirring occasionally and removing the lid for the last 10 minutes to reduce any liquid. Remove from the heat and leave to cool slightly.
- Preheat the oven to 220°C/gas 7/fan 200°C. Lightly oil a shallow 23x33cm baking tin or tray. Knead the dough again briefly, then roll it out and press it into the tin. Don't leave it to rise again.
- Spread the onion mixture over the dough, then arrange the anchovies on top, making a criss-cross pattern. Stud each window between the anchovies with an olive, then bake for 25-30 minutes until golden. Serve warm, cold or reheated, cut into squares.
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