The Pissaladiere is such a treat from the south of France: sweet caramelised onions with salty anchovies on a bread-dough base. We’ve added tomatoes as they are just so good in summer. (If the idea of making bread from scratch sounds too difficult, buy a packet of good-quality bread mix and follow the instructions on the packet.)
Pissaladiere
Ingredients
Dough
- 250g bread flour
- 2,5ml (½ tsp) salt
- 5ml (1 tsp) dried yeast
- 5ml (1 tsp) sugar
- 150ml warm water
Topping
- 50g butter
- 30ml (2 tbsp) olive/avocado oil
- 6 onions, thinly sliced
- 2 fresh sticks of thyme leaves
- salt and freshly ground black pepper,to taste
- splash of balsamic vinegar
- 5ml (1 tsp) sugar
- 12 black olives, pitted
- 1 x 50g tin anchovies in olive oil, drained
- 100g cherry tomatoes, halved, optional
Instructions
For the dough, mix the flour with the salt, yeast and sugar in a large bowl. Make a well in the centre and stir in the water.
Bring the mixture together with your hands to form a soft dough. Tip out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead until elastic, about 5 – 10 minutes. Place the dough in the same bowl, cover with plastic wrap and allow to double in size – this should take about 1 hour.
For the topping, heat the butter and oil in a medium-sized saucepan and add the onions. Stir over a medium heat until the onions caramelise, about 20 minutes.
Add the thyme and cook for a further 10 minutes. Preheat the oven to 220°C.
Remove from the heat and season. Add the balsamic vinegar and sugar. Allow to cool slightly.
Punch back the risen dough to knock out the air and knead again for a further 5 minutes.
Roll out the dough into a large rectangle measuring about 30cm x 35cm.
Spread the caramelised onions over the dough and scatter the olives, anchovies and cherry tomatoes. Bake until golden, about 25 – 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and slice to serve while warm.
