Summer Kitchen: Week 2
Pissaladière that just hits
I think most home cooks have a signature dish. Things we nail every time, dishes that get us a bunch of compliments and some glory when we serve it to friends and family, or bring it to potlucks.
A trusty dish I’ve continued to make throughout the years, slightly improving and improvising along the way, is pissaladière. It’s a true trademark of summer to me.
That almost-but-not-quite pizza-like dough - Elizabeth David calls it a bread dough, and I quite agree - spread with soft onions, olives, and anchovies in oil, served by the slice, claimed by the Provencal and Nicoise as their own, but equally adored and enjoyed by their Ligurian neighbours across the Italian border. It is highly portable, and just as nice when cool. In order words, a perfect picnic or enjoyed by the water, with a cold beer.
I wanted to share this recipe because it has brought so much joy to not only me, but lots of other people. Pissaladière makes people happy, it’s a fact. Also, we’re headed to Liguria for our summer holiday next week, and I feel it is the right way to get in the mood.
No olives, no problem. Last time we ran out, but had plenty of anchovies and great herbs.
After years of making this dish, I still rely on an old recipe for the dough that is extremely easy to put together. The most laborious part is, of course, peeling, finely slicing and slowly softening onions until they’ve released all of their liquid. But anyone that has bitten into a slice of pissaladière knows it is worth the work.
That salty–sweet, briny flavour is unmistakable, especially when combined with herbs that thrive this time of year — thyme, marjoram or savory. Honestly though, I’ve commited blasphemy plenty of times when out of anchovies or olives, and can tell you that it is almost as good with just onions and herbs. Do what you want with that information.
When I cooked pissaladière for the Norwegian magazine D2 - photographed by Jimmy Linus.
Let’s not waste any more time and get to it.
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Pissaladière
Serves 6
200 g flour
1 tsp salt
2 tsp active dried yeast
150 ml lukewarm water
1 tbsp olive oil
1 kg onions, peeled and finely sliced
4–6 tbsp olive oil
Salt
Thyme, marjoram or savory – a couple of fresh sprigs or a pinch of dried
2 tins anchovies in oil
A handful (approx. 14) good black olives with stones, preferably Nicoise style or Kalamata
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Mix the flour, salt, and dry yeast in a bowl, then add the tepid water and oil. Stir until a soft and cohesive dough forms, then knead for about five minutes, adding a bit more flour if needed. Cover with a tea towel and let it rest in a warm place for about an hour.
Preheat the oven to 220°C.
Meanwhile, prepare the onions. Heat 4 tablespoons of olive oil in a large, heavy-bottomed pot and add the onions. Sprinkle with a pinch of salt. Reduce to mid-heat and sweat the onions until they become meltingly soft and lightly golden. They are ready when all of the liquid from the onions has evaporated. This will take anywhere from 25 to 35 minutes and is the most important step in the recipe. Add the thyme, marjoram or savory, and stir.
Soft, glossy, pliable dough ready to be dressed.
Get out a large oven proof tray or sheet pan, and drizzle with olive oil. Turn the dough out onto the tray, and use your fingers to push the dough out to the sides, creating a pizza-like square.
Just olives missing before baking the pissaladière.
Crush the olives with the back of a knife to remove the stones. Spread the onions over the dough, all the way to the edges. Arrange the anchovies in a lattice pattern, as shown in the picture. Place one olive in the centre of each square. Sprinkle with more herbs, if you’d like.
Bake for 20–25 minutes, until the pissaladière is golden and nicely crisp around the edges.
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Here’s a playlist for your cooking, best enjoyed on shuffle.
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The next few weeks I’ll be reporting from the green hills of Liguria, where we’ll mostly be cooking, reading and swimming in cool gorges. Watch out for Summer Kitchen on the road — it’ll be delicious.
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Until next time,
x A