Pissaladière

Serves: 4
Course: Starter
Cooking Time: 1 hr 0 mins
Ingredients
  • For the dough:
  • 200g strong flour
  • 1 packet dried yeast
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 150ml warm water
  • 1 tsp olive oil
  • For the topping:
  • 4 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 kg onions, peeled and thinly sliced
  • 3 sprigs of thyme
  • 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
  • 1 tbsp golden brown sugar
  • 2x 80g cans of salted anchovies, drained and chopped
  • A handful of good black olives, stoned and roughly chopped
  • Black pepper
  • A little extra oil for drizzling
  •  

1. Put the flour, yeast and salt into a bowl and slowly add the warm water and oil until the mix comes together.

2. Remove the dough to a floured board and knead for five minutes (if you have a mixer, you can do this with the dough hook).

3. Put the dough back in the bowl, cover with clingfilm then put it in a warm place to prove for an hour.

4. Meanwhile put the olive oil, onions and thyme into a pan. Cover and cook over a low heat for 20 minutes, stirring once or twice.

5. Uncover and cook for a further 10 minutes over a higher heat until the onions and lightly golden and caramelised.

6. Towards the end of their cooking time add the vinegar, sugar, anchovies, olives and black pepper. Remove from the heat and allow to cool. Remove the thyme.

7. Preheat your oven to 190 degrees Celsius and lightly oil a large baking tray.

8. Turn the dough out of the bowl and knead just a little on a floured surface, then roll out and press into the tray. Don’t let it rise again.

9. Evenly spread the onion mixture over the dough, drizzle a little oil over the top, then bake for 25-30 minutes until crisp. Serve warm or cold, cut into squares.

Paul Flynn

Paul Flynn

Paul Flynn is a chef, restaurateur and contributor to The Irish Times. He and his wife, Máire, run the Tannery restaurant and cookery school in Dungarvan, Co Waterford