In Nice, you’ll find pissaladière on every street corner: a thin layer of yeast dough topped with a thick layer of slowly braised onions, anchovies and small black olives. It’s eaten by hand, lukewarm, and often as early as the morning. The name comes from “pissalat,” a seasoning paste made from salted anchovies that was once spread over the dough. We make our version with pink onions from Roscoff, which become mild and sweet when braised. Brittany meets the Côte d’Azur, and the two are a perfect match.
Nice · Picnic or apéro
Pissaladière
An onion tart that takes time but no effort: the dough rises for two hours, while the onions braise for half an hour. Pissaladière tastes just as good lukewarm as it does cold, making it perfect for a picnic, apéro or buffet.
Ingredients
For the dough · serves 6
For the topping
Preparation
The dough
1
Dissolve the yeast in 4 tbsp lukewarm water. Mix the flour, polenta and ½ tsp salt in a bowl, make a well in the centre and add the remaining water, 2 tbsp olive oil and the yeast. Knead into a dough by hand.
2
Knead the dough vigorously for about 5 minutes until it is soft and smooth. If it is too sticky, add a little more flour. Form into a ball and place in an oiled bowl.
3
Cover and leave in a warm place to rise until it has doubled in size, about 2 hours.
The topping
4
Peel the onions and cut them into thin slices. Heat the olive oil in a wide pan, add the onions and cook over medium heat for about 10 minutes until they are soft, without letting them brown.
5
Add the oregano, thyme, bay leaf and broken-up anchovies, then season with salt and pepper. Cover the pan tightly (a piece of foil under the lid helps) and braise over low heat for 20 minutes. Remove the bay leaf and thyme sprig.
Baking
6
Preheat the oven to 240 °C. Knead the dough again for 1 minute, divide into 6 pieces and stretch them into round flatbreads with your fingers, leaving the edges slightly thicker. Alternatively, you can top a whole baking tray.
7
Top the flatbreads with the onions, sprinkle the chopped olives over them and leave to rise again for another 15 minutes. Then bake for about 20 minutes until the edges are golden brown. Serve lukewarm or cold.
Tip
When braised, the anchovies almost melt and only season the onions. If you want to see them, lay a few extra fillets over the topping before baking. In Nice, by the way, olives are left whole, with their stones.
Download the recipe as a print-friendly PDF
