Provençal French · Nice and the Côte d'Azur · mezze

Pissaladière

pissaladière

Pissaladière is the street food and home cook's tart of Nice — a thick, focaccia-like base blanketed with onions cooked down to a sweet, jammy mass, then finished with anchovies in a crosshatch and small black olives. No tomato, no cheese: the onions are the whole point. It's sold by the slice at Niçois bakeries and makes a perfect apéritif spread or a light lunch at room temperature.

• all-purpose flour

  2 1/4 cups

  280g

• instant (rapid-rise) yeast

  1 tsp

  3g

• fine sea salt, for dough

  3/4 tsp

  4g

• warm water (about 100°F / 38°C)

  3/4 cup

  180ml

• olive oil, for dough

  2 tbsp

  30ml

• olive oil, for the onions

  1/4 cup

  60ml

• large yellow onions, thinly sliced (about 1/8 inch)

  4 lbs (about 6 large)

  1.8kg

• garlic cloves, thinly sliced

  4 cloves

  20g

• fresh thyme sprigs

  4 sprigs

  4g

• bay leaves

  2 leaves

  1g

• fine sea salt, for onions

  1 tsp

  6g

• black pepper, freshly ground

  1/4 tsp

  1g

• oil-packed anchovy fillets

  2 oz (about 16 fillets)

  55g

• Castelvetrano or Cerignola olives, pitted

  3/4 cup

  100g

  Substitution · hard-to-find

  Original: Niçoise olives (unpitted). Niçoise olives are the traditional choice — small, brine-cured, slightly bitter. Castelvetrano or Cerignola are widely available and work beautifully; Kalamata halves are a fine backup. If you find Niçoise olives at a specialty store or Whole Foods, use them whole and unpitted — diners expect to work around the pits.

• olive oil, for finishing

  1 tbsp

  15ml

• kosher salt or coarse sea salt, for finishing

  1/4 tsp

  1g

  Substitution · accessibility

  Original: fleur de sel or flaky sea salt (such as Maldon). Fleur de sel and flaky salts like Maldon provide a delicate, mineral crunch that is part of the finishing experience in Provençal cooking. Kosher salt is a workable stand-in — use it sparingly since the crystals are denser. If you can find Maldon flaky sea salt (stocked at Whole Foods, Wegmans, and many Kroger/Safeway locations), use it instead for a closer result.

1. 01

   75 min

   Make the dough. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, yeast, and fine sea salt. Add the warm water and 2 tbsp olive oil. Stir with a wooden spoon until a shaggy dough forms, then turn out onto an unfloured surface and knead for 6–8 minutes until smooth and slightly tacky but not sticky. Shape into a ball, place back in the bowl, cover with a clean kitchen towel or plastic wrap, and let rise at room temperature until roughly doubled — about 1 hour.

2. 02

   55 min

   While the dough rises, cook the onions — this is the heart of the dish, so don't rush it. Warm the 1/4 cup olive oil in a large, wide pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add all the sliced onions, garlic, thyme sprigs, bay leaves, and 1 tsp fine sea salt. Stir to coat everything in oil. Cook uncovered over medium-low heat, stirring every 5–7 minutes, for 45–55 minutes. The onions should slowly collapse, turn golden, and become deeply jammy and sweet — not browned or crispy, just meltingly soft. If they start to color too fast, lower the heat. Remove the thyme sprigs and bay leaves, season with black pepper, and taste for salt. Set aside to cool slightly.

3. 03

   20 min

   Preheat your oven to 425°F (220°C). Lightly oil a half-sheet pan (18×13 inches / 46×33 cm) or a large rimmed baking sheet with olive oil.

4. 04

   20 min

   Once the dough has risen, turn it out onto the oiled pan. Using your fingers and palms, press and stretch it to fill the pan — it should be roughly 1/2 inch (1.2 cm) thick. If it springs back, let it rest 5 minutes and try again. Cover loosely and let rest 15 minutes while the oven finishes heating.

5. 05

   3 min

   Spread the cooled onion mixture evenly over the dough all the way to the edges — use every bit of it. The onion layer should be generous, about 1/2 inch thick.

6. 06

   5 min

   Arrange the anchovy fillets in a classic diamond or crosshatch pattern across the top: lay half the fillets diagonally one way, then the other half crossing them. Place one olive in the center of each diamond. This isn't just decorative — it ensures every slice gets anchovy and olive in every bite.

7. 07

   25 min

   Drizzle the 1 tbsp finishing olive oil over the top. Bake on the middle rack for 20–25 minutes, until the edges of the dough are golden brown and the bottom is set (lift a corner with a spatula to check — it should be firm and lightly colored). The onions will look slightly darker at the edges; that's good.

8. 08

   10 min

   Remove from the oven and let the pissaladière rest on the pan for at least 10 minutes before cutting. Finish with a very light scatter of kosher salt or coarse sea salt (use a restrained hand — the anchovies are already salty). Cut into squares or rectangles and serve warm or at room temperature. It's excellent either way, and arguably better once it's cooled a bit and the flavors settle.

• · LLM tiebreak failed for "instant" — picked first result as fallback

Reheating · Fish dries quickly when reheated. Use low heat with moisture, or serve cold over salad.

Source: foodkeeper