Pissaladière is a classic dish in Provence. Its thin pizza-like crust is piled high with caramelized onions, then topped with anchovies, olives, and fresh herbs.
Ingredients
Makes 12 servings
Topping
Crust
Preparation
For topping:
Step 1
Preheat oven to 350°F. Place butter on heavy large rimmed baking sheet; place in oven until butter melts, about 5 minutes. Spread half of onions on baking sheet; top with 3 thyme sprigs, 2 rosemary sprigs and 1 bay leaf. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Drizzle with 3 tablespoons oil. Top with remaining onions, 3 thyme sprigs, 2 rosemary sprigs, and 1 bay leaf. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Drizzle with 3 tablespoons oil (onion layer will be about 2 1/2 inches thick but will settle during baking). Bake until onions are very tender and golden, stirring and turning every 30 minutes, about 2 hours total. Cool. Discard herb sprigs and bay leaves. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover; chill. Bring to room temperature before using.)
For crust:
Step 2
Pour 1 cup warm water into small bowl; sprinkle yeast and sugar over. Stir to blend. Let stand until foamy, about 10 minutes.
Step 3
Blend 2 3/4 cups flour and salt in processor. Add yeast mixture and 2 tablespoons oil; process until dough clumps together, adding more flour by tablespoonfuls if dough is sticky. Process until shiny ball forms, about 1 minute. Turn dough out onto floured work surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. Coat large bowl with remaining 1 tablespoon oil. Add dough to bowl; turn to coat with oil. Cover with plastic wrap, then kitchen towel. Let rise in warm draft-free area until doubled in volume, about 1 1/2 hours. Punch down dough; cover and let rise until puffed and almost doubled, about 1 hour.
Step 4
Sprinkle heavy 17x11x1-inch baking sheet with cornmeal. Roll out dough on lightly floured surface to 18x12-inch rectangle. Transfer to prepared baking sheet; press edges of dough up along sides and corners of sheet. Cover with dry kitchen towel; let rise until slightly puffed, 1 hour.
Step 5
Preheat oven to 475°F. Spread onions over top of dough. Arrange anchovies and olives atop. Bake until crust is golden, about 15 minutes. Sprinkle with thyme. Cut into 3-inch squares. Serve warm or at room temperature. (Can be made 4 hours ahead; let stand at room temperature.)
Leave a Review
Reviews (15)
Back to TopI use the crust recipe for regular pizza. The saltiness is a favorite.
thilver9946
4/7/2021
This is one of my favorite recipes of all time. I haven't made it in a while, but I can still taste it. If you are short on time, you can use pizza dough from your local pizza place or even the dough you can get at the deli in the supermarket. Be patient patient patient when doing the onions. It takes a long time to get them just right, but it is so worth it. They cook down quite a bit so don't be overwhelmed by their volume on the pan before cooking. Yes you can cut down the oil a bit. I liked the other reviewer's idea to press the anchovies (or use paste) to disguise the sight of them for those who aren't sure they will like them - but will love the taste nonetheless. It's a keeper!
cindicb1
Pawling, NY
4/6/2014
This was a hit for my summer soiree! I caramlized the onions on the stove top on a 12" inch skillet which worked fine. The only thing I used Walla Walla sweets which are in season now and they took 2 1/2 hours to cook down as they exuded a lot of water. The end result, though, was phenomenol! I am also gluten free and I used Chebe brand pizza dough mix for the tart crust, following the mix instructions for baking temp and time. This tart was one of the first things to run out of on my buffet table. Definitely a keeper
nycpdx68
Vancouver, Wa
8/27/2012
Oh boy... I really didn't like this. And I thought I was going to love it! First... I roasted the onions in the oven exactly per the instructions, setting my timer for each 30 minutes to stir... after one and a half hours, I had some burned onions and some just white onions. The herbs were burned and hard to find among the onions to remove. I dumped what I could salvage into a frying pan and caramelized the usual way instead, for the final 30 minutes, over a very low flame. OK. Followed the rest of the instructions exactly. Decided there are way too many onions, the anchovies are too intense... sigh. If I ever try this again, it will be with fewer onions and maybe an anchovy paste brushed on under the onions... Whoa. Just couldn't eat it. Blech.
debnev
Redding, CT
3/30/2012
Delicious and easy to make (I bought my crust: Farro by Berlin Natural Bakery). I found I didn't need all 20 olives so some were diverted to the appetizer tray. Made for Christmas dinner, (with salad, was my first course).
jendickinson
12/29/2009
I thought that the 3 rising times for the dough seemed a bit excessive, but I tried it anyway -- by the time I was wrestling the VERY soft, sticky dough into the sheet pan, I knew I was right. There's no reason why this recipe shouldn't be made with a normal recipe for pizza dough. Also, I found the 1/4 cup of butter that's melted on the pan before the addition of the onions for cooking in the oven, along with the additional 6 tablesspoons of olive oil on top of that, make the onions far too oily. I would reduce both amounts significantly. In general, I would suggest you try one of the 3 other pissaladiere recipies on this site. This one is far too laborious, time-consuming, and greasy.
Anonymous
6/11/2007
Excellent crowd pleaser! This was the first to go at a cocktail party. It's a bit of work, though, especially getting the dough on to the baking sheet. The dish looked beautiful when it came out of the oven, but slicing it into bite sized pieces with a pizza cutter made a bit of a mess. Will bake it on top of baker's paper next time and slice with a large knife. Regardless, I'll make this again, as all my guests loved it.
Anonymous
West Vancouver, BC, Canada
12/7/2005
A delicious dish and pretty easy to make, though it does take time. I disagree with the cook from Chicago: this dish can easily be made without a cuisinart or food processor. I used a mandoline to slice the onions, and a bowl and spoon to mix the dough. Other than that, I followed the recipe as written and it came out beautifully. Oh -- I did used salt-packed anchovies, which are larger than the little oil-packed ones.
Anonymous
Brookline, MA
12/4/2005
I had about 2 cups of cooked onions leftover using the required pan size. Good flavor. For anchovy anxious people try this: put the anchovies through a garlic press and toss the pressed solids with the onions about 1 hr 30 mins thru cooking. People notice the salt and flavor, but the telltale fish shape, concentrated fish flavor and bones are disbursed. My guests didn't even guess there were anchovies. I also added about 50% more olives.
Anonymous
North Texas
1/19/2005
Fantastic. The roasting onions made the house smell soooo good! I had very good success with this crust recipe too - turned out very light but with a good crunch to the bottom. Really, even anchovy challenged people should be able to deal with this one, but if someone is particularly frightened but still wants to try the recipe, maybe try sprinkling with ?feta? instead? You sort of need the salty explosions to get the full effect, I think.
Anonymous
Kitchener, ON
11/3/2003
I've made this dish more than 5 times. It is awesome. I do use prepared pizza crust from the deli department to reduce time in the kitchen. I also use my cuisinart to slice the onions.
Cindi
Pawling, NY
11/2/2003
My food-savvy guests simply RAVED about this. It would be a shame to omit the anchovies. They practically melt into the onions and marry spectacularly well. A mandoline was a huge help in slicing the onions. Made the topping as directed but used a partially pre-baked pate brisee crust. It's a bit of a pain to pit nicoise olives, but well worth it. Outstanding recipe.
Anonymous
New York, NY
7/6/2003
I loved this recipe. And since most people are put off by anchovies, it meant all the more for me! Fact is, the anchovies do not overpower this dish. I put some basalmic vinegar in the onion pan while they were carmelizing. Also sprinkled on a bit of freshly grated parmesean with the herbs.
Anonymous
Larose, LA
4/22/2002
As we were anchovy and olive challenged, we roasted cherry tomato halves in place of those ingredients. Plus, we really didn't need quite so much onion. Roasted onion and tomato...wow!
Anonymous
Atlanta
3/8/2002
Was this work worth it - YES! I never tackled this type of dish but it was part of French Provence buffet dinner. It pays off to start early and a food processor is a must. I used more olives since some of my guests were anchovy-challenged and it was great!
Anonymous
chicago
2/15/2002
