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WITH BERN THE CHEF I BERNTHECHEF.COM.AU
Pissaladière July 14 is Bastille Day and I love to celebrate any occasion with food. My last overseas trip was to France and we enjoyed the traditional French fare: baguettes, fresh berries and cheeses at local markets and also the freshly baked Pissaladière that is almost pizza, but contains more bread. délicieuse! Pissaladière has an easy dough base smothered in caramelised onions, olives, anchovies and thyme. Pissaladière wouldn’t be Pissaladière without onions that are cooked in the old-fashioned way. Cheating with a store-bought sugar laden product just won’t cut it. Best thing to do is use your time wisely and make a big batch that can be used on the Pissaladière, and as a condiment that will go with so many meals and last a good couple of weeks. For this recipe, take 12 brown onions, peel and thinly slice - from root to tip - not across the rings (Ed – nice tip, Bern!). Throw into a large heavy based pot with 150 mls of olive oil. Stir briefly and pop on the lid, letting the onions start to heat through. The steam will help the onions break down and prevent them accidentally burning too early. The onions need to become tender before they start to brown. Five minutes should be plenty of time, then lift the lid, and start the stirring process. Add a sprig of thyme and stir every few minutes, just as it’s starting to catch on the base. You want this browning to happen, that's the flavour. This stage takes about 15- 20 minutes. So, stay close (maybe clean out the utensil cupboard or reorganise the pantry), but stay close! Once the base of the pot has onions sticking to it, add a splash of water to help loosen the caramelisation - a couple of times over five minutes should be plenty. When your onions are a dark golden brown, turn the heat off, put the lid back on, and leave it for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, lift the lid, and you should be able to stir the onions, with the browned base mixing in with the onions. Season with a teaspoon of sea salt, and freshly ground black pepper, cool, and use to top your Pissaladière.
34 TVO
Pissaladière Bread Base 150 gm plain flour (1 cup) 60 gm butter, coarsely chopped 14 gm dried yeast (2 sachet) 1 egg, lightly whisked
Topping
1 cup of caramelised onions 2-3 sprigs of thyme leaves 12 anchovy fillets or roasted capsicum 16 black pitted olives For bread dough: combine flour, butter and a pinch of salt in a large bowl. Using your fingertips, rub butter into flour until fine crumbs form, then make a well in the centre. Combine yeast with 2 tbsp lukewarm water, stir to dissolve and add to well along with egg. Combine dry mixture with yeast mixture to form a dough, then knead until smooth and coming away from the sides of the bowl (add a little more flour if the dough is too sticky). Cover with a damp tea towel and stand in a warm place until doubled in size (45-60 minutes). Preheat the oven to 200C. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured work surface, knock back, then knead into a ball. Lightly flour dough, roll out to a 28cm-diameter circle and place on a lightly greased oven tray. Spread over onion mixture, arrange anchovies (or capsicum if using) on top in a criss-cross pattern and place an olive in the centre of each diamond. Stand in a warm place and prove until slightly risen (10-15 minutes), then bake until golden (20-25 minutes).
bon appetit
