Onion & Tomato Tart with Anchovies
Submitted by cliffjames
Onion and tomato tart with anchovies bakes caramelized onions, tomatoes, briny anchovies, and Nicoise olives on a thin yeasted crust. The Provençal pissaladière at home.
YIELD
6 servingsPREP
35 minCOOK
10 minREADY
105 minThis is a homemade pissaladière, the Provençal cousin of pizza that swaps tomato sauce and cheese for slow-cooked sweet onions, briny anchovies, and salty olives. Three full pounds of onions get sliced thin and sautéed with garlic, oregano, rosemary, and parsley until lightly browned and intensely sweet, then mixed with diced tomatoes for color and acid. The yeasted dough sits closer to thin-crust pizza than to puff pastry, rolled into a rectangle and baked at blasting heat on a stone or the back of a hot baking sheet to mimic a wood-fired oven. The signature finishing touch is the lattice. Anchovy fillets get arranged in a crisscross pattern on top, with a Niçoise or Kalamata olive set in the center of each diamond. A drizzle of olive oil before the bake helps everything caramelize into a savory, crackling Provençal classic.
Pro Tips
- Slice the onions thin and even for uniform cooking. Thick slices stay raw inside while the outside browns.
- Sauté the onions over moderate, not high, heat. Slow caramelization develops complex sweetness; high heat scorches them bitter.
- Rinse the anchovies well and pat dry. Excess oil and salt overpower the tart.
- Use a pizza stone if you have one, preheated for at least 30 minutes. The hot stone is what gives the crust its crisp underside.
Variations
- Skip the anchovies for a vegetarian version. Add a sprinkle of sea salt flakes to compensate for the missing brine.
- Use puff pastry instead of yeasted dough for a quicker, flakier French-style tart.
- Scatter fresh basil or thyme leaves over the top after baking for additional aromatic depth.
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare pizza dough according to recipe and let rise in a warm place while preparing topping.
Basic pizza douhg: Mix the yeast, sugar, ½ cup water and ¼ cup flour together in a bowl and let proof for 10 minutes.
Mixture should look frothy. Add remaining flour, salt and olive oil and mix well.
Turn out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead for 8 to 10 minutes or until dough is elastic and smooth.
Alternately you can do this with the dough hook in a heavy duty mixer.
Dough should feel moist and tender. If it’s too stiff, add a bit more water.
Place dough in an oiled bowl and turn to coat it evenly.
Topping: Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a sauté pan and sauté the onions, garlic, oregano, rosemary and parsley over moderate heat until lightly browned.
Add tomatoes and remove from heat.
Season with salt and pepper and cool.
Roll out dough into a large rectangle, ¼ inch or so thick and place on a pizza peel or back of a baking sheet which has been liberally sprinkled with corn meal.
Spread the tomato-onion mixture evenly over top of dough to within ½ inch of edge.
Arrange the anchovies in a lattice fashion on top and place a pitted olive in the middle of each section.
Drizzle with remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Slide tart off onto the brick or tiles in a preheated 500 degrees F oven and bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until crust is golden and crisp.
Serve warm or at room temperature.
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