Pissaladière

Storing and Planning Ahead

Keeps 2 days at room temperature under a cloth, or 4 days refrigerated. Refresh in a 200°C / 390°F oven for 6 minutes to re-crisp the base.

Pissaladière: The Method

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1. Mix the flour, yeast and salt, add the water and oil, and knead for 8 minutes to a smooth, slightly slack dough. Cover and prove for 1 hour.

   Mark done Start 8 min timer

2. Meanwhile put the onions in a wide pan with the olive oil, thyme, bay and a pinch of salt. Cover and cook over low heat for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

   Mark done Start 30 min timer

3. While the dough finishes proving, uncover the onions, add the garlic, and cook them 25 to 30 minutes more, stirring often, until the onions are pale gold, jammy and greatly reduced. Season with pepper and cool.

   Mark done Start 25 min timer

4. Heat the oven to 220°C / 430°F with a baking sheet inside.

   Mark done

5. Roll or press the dough into a 30 x 25 cm rectangle on an oiled sheet of baking paper, pushing up a slight rim.

   Mark done

6. Fish out the herbs and drain the onions of any free oil, then spread them over the dough in an even, thick layer right to the rim.

   Mark done

7. Lay the anchovies over the top in a diamond lattice and press an olive into the centre of each diamond.

   Mark done

8. Slide the paper onto the hot sheet and bake for 20 to 25 minutes until the base is crisp and browned underneath. Serve warm or at room temperature.

   Mark done Start 20 min timer

Related guide: Prep, cook and total time.

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Worth Knowing

• An hour of onion cooking sounds excessive and is not. Rushing it on high heat gives you fried onions, which taste entirely different.
• Salt-packed anchovies rinsed and filleted are markedly better than tinned, if you can find them.
• It travels beautifully. Cut into squares, it is the best picnic food there is.

Why the Method Is What It Is

The onions must be cooked low and covered for the first half hour so they sweat and collapse rather than fry — you want their sugars to caramelise slowly in their own moisture, which builds sweetness without any bitterness. Draining them before they go on the dough is what keeps the base crisp.

Good Alongside

A chilled Provençal rosé · Ratatouille or a tomato salad · Pastis with water, if you are being properly Niçois

Changing the Recipe

• An eighth of a teaspoon of garlic powder per clove is the stand-in usually given when you are out of fresh garlic; it will not brown the same way, and it burns easily, so add it with the liquid.

Pissaladière FAQ

Pissaladière Nutrition Facts

Per serving, calculated from the ingredient list with USDA FoodData Central figures (SR Legacy). A calculation, not a laboratory analysis: brands, cuts and how you measure change the real numbers. How the figures are worked out.

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