Pissaladière

Pissaladière (Caramelised Onion Tart from Nice)

The signature savoury tart of Nice: a yeasted bread base brushed with olive oil, piled high with slowly caramelised onions, and finished with a lattice of salt-cured anchovies and Niçoise olives.

Prep

30 min

Cook

90 min

Total

120 min

Serves

6 to 8 as a starter or snack

Difficulty

Medium

Recipe ingredients

• •250 g (8½ oz / ~2 cups) bread flour, plus extra for dusting
• •150 ml (5 fl oz / ⅔ cup) lukewarm water, around 38 °C / 100 °F
• •5 g (1½ tsp) fine sea salt
• •5 g (2 tsp) active dry yeast, or 8 g fresh crumbled
• •15 ml (1 tbsp) extra-virgin olive oil, for the dough, plus more for drizzling
• •1 kg (2¼ lb) yellow or sweet onions, traditionally a mix of mild and a few spring onions; sliced thinly
• •60 ml (¼ cup) extra-virgin olive oil, for cooking the onions
• •5 g (1 tsp) fresh thyme leaves, or 2 g dried
• •1 g (½ tsp) sugar, helps the onions brown
• •120 g (4¼ oz) salt-cured anchovy fillets, true pissaladière uses anchovy paste (pissala); whole fillets in a lattice are the common home-cook version. Rinse if very salty.
• •80 g (⅔ cup) Niçoise or other small black olives, pitted, ideally cured in brine rather than oil
• •2 g (½ tsp) flaky sea salt, for finishing; null
• •1 g (¼ tsp) freshly ground black pepper

Steps

1. 1 Make the dough: whisk yeast into the lukewarm water with a pinch of the salt and a teaspoon of the flour; leave 8–10 minutes until foamy. Add the remaining flour, salt and olive oil and mix to a soft, slightly sticky dough.
2. 2 Knead 8–10 minutes by hand (or 6 minutes in a stand mixer) until smooth and elastic. Shape into a ball, place in a lightly oiled bowl, cover and rise 1½–2 hours at room temperature until doubled.
3. 3 While the dough rises, prepare the onions: toss the sliced onions with the sugar, thyme and a generous pinch of salt. Heat 60 ml olive oil in a wide, heavy pan over medium-low, add the onions and cook gently, stirring every few minutes, for 40–55 minutes until they are deeply golden, jammy and reduced to about a third of their original volume. They should be sweet, not burnt. Cool completely.
4. 4 Punch down the dough and roll it on a floured surface into a rough rectangle (about 30 × 38 cm / 12 × 15 in), about 5 mm thick. Transfer to a parchment-lined sheet pan and dimple firmly all over with your fingertips to prevent large bubbles.
5. 5 Spread the cooled onions evenly over the dough, leaving a 1 cm / ½ in border. Drizzle with a little olive oil.
6. 6 Lay the anchovy fillets in a diamond or crosswise lattice across the onions, then nestle the olives between them so each portion gets an olive.
7. 7 Rest 15 minutes so the dough relaxes, then bake on the middle rack of a preheated oven at 230 °C / 450 °F for 18–22 minutes, until the crust is well browned at the edges and the base sounds hollow when tapped.
8. 8 Cool 5 minutes, finish with flaky salt, black pepper and a final thread of olive oil. Serve warm or at room temperature — never hot — as is traditional in Nice.