In Southern France, particularly in the Nice, Marseilles, Toulon, and Var District, as well as in Liguria, particularly in the Province of Imperia, a pizza-like meal known as pissaladière is prepared. Due to the absence of tomatoes, it can be categorized as a form of white pizza. Typically, the dough is bread dough, which is thicker than the dough for traditional Italian pizza. Onions that have been caramelized (nearly pureed), olives, garlic, and anchovies make up the typical topping. While mozzarella is added in the nearby Italian town of San Remo, France does not use any cheese.
| Prep Time: | 20 mins |
| Cook Time: | 1 hr 25 mins |
| Additional Time: | 2 hrs |
| Total Time: | 3 hrs 45 mins |
| Servings: | 6 |
| Yield: | 1 pizza |
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons water, or as needed
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 ½ pounds onions, thinly sliced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 small bay leaf
- 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
- 1 tablespoon drained capers
- salt and ground black pepper to taste
- 20 large Niçoise olives, pitted and coarsely chopped
- 16 anchovy fillets
Instructions
- Mix flour and salt together in the bowl of a food processor. Add butter and 2 tablespoons oil. Pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal. Pulse in enough water, 1 tablespoon at a time, to form moist clumps. Gather dough into a ball; flatten into a disk. Wrap in plastic and chill, at least 2 hours.
- Heat 3 tablespoons oil in a heavy, large skillet over medium-low heat. Add onions, garlic, bay leaf, and thyme; stir to blend. Cover and cook until onions are very tender, stirring occasionally, about 45 minutes. Uncover and sauté until most liquid evaporates and onions are golden, about 10 minutes longer. Stir in capers. Season mixture with salt and pepper. Cool completely; discard bay leaf.
- Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Lightly oil a large baking sheet.
- Roll out dough on a floured surface to an 11-inch round. Transfer dough to the prepared sheet. Crimp edges of dough to form a stand-up border. Spread filling evenly over dough. Arrange olives and anchovies decoratively atop filling.
- Bake in the preheated oven until crust is crisp and golden, about 30 minutes. Transfer to a platter and serve.
- Dough and filling can be prepared 1 day ahead. Keep dough chilled. Cover and chill filling. Let dough soften slightly at room temperature before rolling out.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 380 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 39 g |
| Cholesterol | 29 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 5 g |
| Protein | 8 g |
| Saturated Fat | 7 g |
| Sodium | 765 mg |
| Sugars | 8 g |
| Fat | 22 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
I have never had pissaladiere before, so I have nothing to compare it to, but I thought it was a really unique flavor combination. It is not at all like what I consider as a pizza, but more of a savory tart. The crust itself is actually a pie crust rather than a pizza crust–so I’d say to not go into making this thinking that it will be very pizza-like. With that said, I did find this pissaladiere be to quite salty. I think I would omit salt from the onions and use less anchovies next time. The one issue I had with it is that the onions took 35 minutes (instead of the suggested 10) to evaporate their liquid and begin to brown–and they got very brown after baking again too (no complaints about the browning, though–just the cooking time). I think I would try adding some sugar to the onions to help offset some of the saltiness, and to aid in the caramelization. Overall, I enjoyed trying something very different–and I will be using this crust recipe in particular again! It’s fantastic! Thanks for the recipe!