On a recent visit to my daughter Sophia in New Orleans, I discovered in her pantry nine tiny tins of anchovies she purchased several months ago to add rich umami flavor to certain savory dishes but she was unsure how to use the remaining tins. Various recipes came to mind for sauces, dressings and pasta– Italian salsa verde (a condiment of anchovies, capers, and herbs), Caesar and green goddess dressings, assorted pasta dishes such as pasta c’anciova e muddica (with anchovies and breadcrumbs), spaghetti puttanesca (capers, olives and anchovies) and Sicilian Christmas Eve pasta with anchovies, tomatoes, pine nuts, raisins and Kalamata olives. But the one anchovy recipe I specifically wanted to revisit was for pissaladière, a French onion, anchovy and olive tart that I prepared for Sophia’s christening years ago.
Pissaladière is a classic savory tart, native to Provence, the region of France around Nice, Marseilles, Toulon and the Var District. Today, pissaladière is often served as an appetizer, a light meal or a snack. Although the French consider pissaladière a French culinary creation, Provence was a province or colony of the Celts, then the Greeks, then the Romans and then the Italians, each leaving their culinary traditions, before the region became exclusively France. Historically, pissaladière is presumed to have Roman origins, brought by Roman cooks to southern France during Avignon Papacy in the 1300s. As legend goes, these cooks adapted Italian cooking styles to French ingredients to create pissaladière (also called pissaladina). One of the oldest culinary specialties of the region, pissaladière, was passed down from generation to generation in Nice families.
The first written reference to pissaladière dates to the nineteenth century under the name of pissalat à la niçoise when before baking, the dough was brushed with a mash of anchovies and sardines called pissalat, described as a robust essence of umami: fishy, salty and herby. Although pissalat is preferred by traditionalists to flavor a pissaladière, it is generally unavailable because fishing the required fish catch is now regulated and limited. In the usual French practice of creating organizations to protect regional products worthy of distinction, the technical committee that awards the label Cuisine Nissarde (Cuisine from Nice) confirmed a few years ago that pissaladière can be prepared without pissalat and replaced with anchovies (or anchovy paste).
Today’s French cooks make pissaladière of readily available ingredients: bread dough topped with lightly caramelized onions, anchovies, olives and herbs. Initially, it was poor people’s food until French gourmets discovered its big flavor and turned it into fashionable gastronomy.
Pissaladière is easy to prepare: a thin layer of purchased or homemade yeast bread dough is rolled onto a sheet pan, then covered with an equally thick layer of onions (cooked for a long time over low heat until a compote, jam-like consistency is reached), decoratively garnished with strips of anchovies, black olives and herbs and baked in a very hot oven. The beauty of pissaladière is that its two main components – yeast dough and jammy onions — can be prepared a day ahead.
On the day of serving, as the dough and onion topping are warming to room temperature, two further preparatory steps need to be taken. Tinned or jarred anchovies as well as olives are heavily salted for preservation and too salty to eat. So, before using as garnish on this tart, the flat anchovy fillets should be soaked in warm water between 15-25 minutes to remove excess salt, becoming plump and flexible, and dried on paper towels ready to use. The olives should be rinsed of brine and dried. After desalting, both anchovies and olives should become pleasantly salty.
The combination of sweet, almost-melted onions, slightly salty anchovies and olives result in a superb, deeply satisfying tart. Adding thyme, bay leaves, savory and oregano to the onions bring an earthy, minty note which is a good thing. One piece of this pissaladière is usually not enough for lunch with a salad and a glass of wine, but it is an excellent opening act for a dinner of grilled fish or soup. Bite-size squares of pissaladière also make memorable cocktail nibbles.
Pissaladière pairs well with several wines so long as the wine is not too tannic the saltiness of the olives and anchovies only serves to enhance its earthiness. This pissaladière can be paired with almost any medium-to-full-bodied white or light-to-medium bodied red. Some recommended wines are reds —Bandol, the premier wine of Provence (France), Semillon (Australia), Barbaresco (Italy), Tempranillo (Spain); whites: Chablis (France), Chardonnay (partially oaked, dry (California) and Sauvignon Blanc (Chile). Even rosé, French or not, has its fans, especially if this tart is served during summer.
Baking this pissaladière reawakened wonderful memories of Sophia’s christening and family and friends who made that day special many years ago. Sophia, who at six months was unable to taste my first version of this tart, now says it is a hit as she and Weldon helped themselves to additional pieces. This pissaladière turned out as I remembered it — beautifully balanced with complimentary flavors. It is tender, yet robust and sumptuous. It has that certain je ne sais quoi – that indescribable hallmark of an iconic dish.
Pissaladière
For the homemade dough:
3 teaspoons active dry yeast
1¼ cup (236.5 ml) warm water
½ teaspoon sugar
4 cups (544 g) bread flour
2 teaspoons salt
6 tablespoons olive oil
For the topping:
4 pounds (1.8 kg) white onions, diced
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
1 pinch confectioner’s sugar
2 sprigs thyme, leaves stripped
1 bay leaf
½ teaspoon dried savory
1 sprig oregano
30-40 black olives Cailletier niçoises or Kalamata, pitted, washed and dried
2-3 dozen anchovy flat fillets, drained, soaked and dried
Preparing the dough: In a small bowl, dissolve yeast and sugar in warm water (105° – 115°F, 40.5 – 46 °C) and let stand until foamy.
In the bowl of a food processor fitted with the dough blade, combine flour and salt and process with 3 or 4 pulses. With the motor running, slowly add the yeast mixture, allowing each addition to be absorbed before adding more. Then pour in the oil and continue processing until the dough forms a ball and cleans the sides of the bowl, about 1 minute, then process for 1 minute more.
Coat the inside of a large bowl with a tablespoon of oil and place the dough in the bowl. If baking tart the same day, cover with a clean kitchen towel and let the dough rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour or cover. If baking tart the next day, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. Several hours before baking, remove dough from refrigerator and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size.
Preparing topping: In a large pan, add oil, diced onions, thyme, bay leaf, savory and oregano. Cook on very low heat, stirring regularly for at least 2½ hours or until the onions are soft, just starting to lightly color. Cool and refrigerate if preparing overnight. The next day bring up to room temperature before proceeding with assembling the tart.
Final assembly and baking: When ready to bake, roll out the dough on a floured surface to line a baking sheet 13 inches x 18 inches (33 cm x 46 cm). Cover with a slightly damp cloth and let rise for an hour.
Preheat oven to 425°F (220°C).
Remove bay leaves and aromatic sprigs from the cooked onions. Taste onions for salt, carefully adding salt a few pinches at a time to avoid oversalting (as anchovies and olives are already salted). Transfer onions to a sieve over a bowl to allow excess liquids to drain. Discard or reserve drained liquids for another use. Then spread onions evenly over the dough, leaving a ½ inch (1.27 cm) edge on all sides. Slice anchovy filets lengthwise and decorate the tart top in a regular or random pattern together with olives. Crimp edge of tart.
Bake in preheated oven for 25-35 minutes or until edges are golden brown.
Cut into serving squares. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Serves 8 for an appetizer, 4 for lunch.
One year ago: http://www.kitchenepiphanies.com/quinoa-salad-roasted-butternut-squash-pomegranate-almonds/
Two years ago: http://www.kitchenepiphanies.com/2506-2/
Three years ago: http://www.kitchenepiphanies.com/turkey-ham-pork-sausage-pie-2/
Four years ago: http://www.kitchenepiphanies.com/chocolate-pecan-mille-crepes-torte/
Five years ago: http://www.kitchenepiphanies.com/solies-norwegian-christmas-cookies/
Six years ago: http://www.kitchenepiphanies.com/turban-squash-not-just-for-show/ and http://www.kitchenepiphanies.com/pumpkin-trio-2/