Pissaladière Recipe

The pissaladière is a Niçois onion tart eaten as an appetizer. It is often sold in individual portions by bakery shops and, of course, you can find it at tiny stands on your way to the beach along the Côte d'Azur. (As nice as it is to be on your way to the beach along the Côte d'Azur, these mass-produced pissaladières can be a pretty bland variation of the original.)

Serves: 8

Ingredients:

1. Prepare the dough (pâte à pissaladière)
This dough is particularly hard to work, and a Cuisinart type of mixer is a big help.
The dough can also be purchased (in France) directly from the boulanger (baker). Ask for a pâte à pissaladière if you're in Nice, or a pâte à pain elsewhere.

2. Peel and chop the onions and garlic, and cook them in a pan of olive oil for 20 minutes. Stir frequently to keep the onions from browning.

3. Pre-heat the oven to 450°F (230°C).

4. When the dough is ready, roll it out flat to about 2-5 mm thickness. The dough can then be placed, spread out, into a lightly-oiled pie/tarte pan, or rolled out to a circle (30-35 cm; 10-12 in. diameter) a put on a flat tin.

5. (Optionally) Dry the rolled-out dough for 10 minutes in a medium-warm oven. This can prevent to dough from being soggy (if that's a problem).

6. Spread the onions out evenly on the dough.

7. Spread about 4 teaspoons of pissala evenly across the dough, and then sprinkle on the olives.
Alternately, lay the anchovies and olives out on the dough in a decorative manner, either adding anchovies to the pissala or using in place of the pissala.

8. Put the pissaladière in the pre-heated oven. After 20 minutes, reduce the oven temperature to and cook for a final 10 minutes.
Note: A helpful reader found the "official" temperature too high and the time too long. Try 20 minutes at a constant temperature of 400°F (200°C).