Pissaladière

Preheat the oven to gas mark 9, 475°F/220°C fan (or 240°C conventional). Shape the dough into a ball and brush with olive oil, then cover tightly with cling film and set aside.

Add the anchovies and milk to a bowl. Add 1 oz/2 tbsp olive oil to a pan over a medium heat. Then add the sliced onions and season to taste with salt. Cook over a low heat, stirring frequently for 30 minutes, until fully softened. Remove from the heat and allow to cool.

Flour a work surface and roll the dough out into an even circle around 0.5 inches thick. Then transfer to a baking sheet.

Spread the onions evenly over the dough and leave around a 1 inch border all the way round the pastry.

Scatter the anchovies, olives, and fresh thyme over the surface of the dough. Drizzle with any remaining olive oil and then bake until the crust is golden for around 15 minutes.

Tips & tricks

We’ve shared a traditional pissaladière recipe above and one of the main steps to master in this recipe is to ensure the onions have sufficient time to soften and cook for the best results. We’ve included a shortcut to buy your dough, but some chefs will take the time to make homemade pizza dough, for an authentic pissaladière made from scratch.

Niçoise olives are the traditional variety found in a recipe for pissaladière, partly because they are found in the South of France, where this recipe was invented. You can use different varieties, however, like pitted kalamata olives, which will also work well with the recipe if you’re unable to find these olives locally.

A classic pissaladière features a diamond design on the top. This is curated by using the anchovy filets to create diamond shapes and then placing the pitted olives in the middle of the diamonds. Though anchovies might not hold a mass appeal, they’re packed full of flavor. In this recipe they’re a delicious salty addition alongside the crunch and butter of the pastry. If anchovies are really not your favorite ingredient, however, you can try making a plant-based version of this dish by using roasted red peppers in place of the anchovies. This brings a sweetness to the dish and they can be arranged in the same way as anchovy filets to create the diamond-style shape. But if this recipe does the trick and converts you to the world of cooking with anchovies we have lots of other inspirational recipes to try including stuffed peppers and pasta dishes.

Storage

Once your pissaladière is assembled it won’t store well in the fridge as the pastry is likely to turn soggy with time. You can, however, store the separate components of a pissaladière until you’re ready to cook it. The dough can be chilled a couple of days ahead of time, and you can cook the onions the day before if you need to quickly assemble the pissaladière on the day.

Origin of the recipe

Steeped in history, the pissaladière has its roots in the South of France, in the region of Nice. The etymology of the word is said to come from the Latin word for fish, which also inspired pissalat, the name of an anchovy paste. The first example of this recipe was found in a document as far back as 879 AD. It’s one of the oldest known French specialities and has been passed down from generation to generation over the centuries. If the history and the taste of this dish has given you the taste for French cuisine, then there’s more to it than croissants and crêpes. Explore everything from the showstopping croquembouche to essential sauces that we have the French to thank for introducing to the world.