Pissaladière or Pizza with Onions and Anchovies
It’s a recipe that tastes like Provence: the Pissaladière or Pizza with Onions and Anchovies! If you don’t know it yet, the Pissaladière is a Provencal specialty from the city of Nice which consists of a pizza dough topped with onions, anchovies and black olives. It can be eaten as a starter, side dish or main course served with a green salad.
The ingredients of the traditional Pissaladière
The Pissaladière is a Provençal speciality and more precisely from the city of Nice, not far from the Italian border. The Pissaladière is in fact a pizza topped with slowly cooked onions, anchovies and some olives.
To prepare a traditional Pissaladière, you don’t need many ingredients, but it is important to choose them well!
- Pizza dough: I recommend making your own pizza dough, but you can also buy a ready-made pizza dough to save time.
- Onions: Choose medium-sized yellow onions. These are the most classic onions you can find in the shops.
- Olives: The traditional Niçoise recipe is prepared with black olives! I recommend you, even if it is not always practical, to choose black olives with pits because they are more intense in taste.
- Anchovies: Anchovy fillets are very intense in taste too! Don’t use too much of it or your Pissaladière will be too salty. When I choose my anchovies, I always make sure that they are marinated in olive oil and not a refined oil of lesser quality. You can use the oil from the anchovies to brown your onions!
More Provencal recipes
- Vegetable Tian à la Provençale
- Green Tapenade with Anchovies and Capers
- Tarragon Pesto
- Apricot Tart with Almond Cream
Recipe of the Pissaladière or Pizza with Onions and Anchovies !
For about 6 servings you need the following ingredients.
Ingredients
For the pizza dough
- 250 g of flour
- 125 ml of warm water
- 3.5 g dry yeast
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1/2 tsp. sugar
- Olive oil
For the onion and anchovy filling
- 500 g onions
- 12 anchovy fillets in oil
- 12 black olives
- Herbs of Provence
- Olive oil
- Salt and pepper
Are you missing an ingredient? Here are some tips on how to substitute certain ingredients.
Preparation
For the pizza dough
Start by mixing the yeast with 3 tablespoons of warm water and 3 tablespoons of flour from the total amount. Add 1/2 tsp of sugar and mix well. Let the yeast rise for 15 minutes.
Tip: The water should not be too hot or it will “kill” the yeast and the dough will not rise. The ideal temperature is between 25°C and 35C. When in doubt, I use a small thermometer, like the one used to check the temperature of wine, to measure the temperature of the water before adding it to the yeast.
Then pour the flour and salt into a large bowl. Add the yeast mixture and water. Mix well. Once you obtain a dough, knead it for a few minutes. You can add a little olive oil if the dough is too dry.
Put a little olive oil in the bottom of the bowl, form a smooth ball with the pizza dough and place it in the bowl. Let the dough rest for 1 to 2 hours.
For the onion and anchovy filling
Chop the onions.
Heat a drizzle of olive oil in a pan, add then the onions. Sauté over medium heat. Season with salt and pepper and add a generous pinch of herbes de Provence.
Lower the heat and cook over low heat for 30 to 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. If the onions stick to the bottom of the pan, add a little water and stir well.
Tip: At the end of cooking, add 3 finely chopped anchovies to the onions. This will bring out the taste of the onions!
Preheat your oven to 250°C. Roll out the pizza dough and form a circle of varying size depending on how thick you want your dough to be.
Once the pizza dough is rolled out, pour in the onions, not forgetting the edges. Place the anchovies and olives on top of the onions, making sure to place at least one anchovy and one olive on each piece of pissaladière.
Bake for 10 minutes. Check if it is done. If your dough is a little thick, continue to cook for 2-5 minutes.
Note
Pissaladière can be eaten warm or cold as an appetizer or as a side of a light dish like a salad.
Pictures
Find the steps of the recipe in pictures.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I substitute some of the ingredients ?
As with every blog post, here are some tips for substituting ingredients in this recipe:
- Pizza dough: You can replace the homemade pizza dough by a pizza dough bought in supermarket. You can also make this Pissaladière with a puff pastry.
- Onions: The onions are actually the heart of the recipe, you can’t replace them as is. But you can replace some of them with shallots or red onions.
- Olives: You can replace the olives with cherry tomatoes.
- Anchovies: As explained below, you can replace the anchovies with dried tomatoes. Without anchovies, this recipe is vegetarian and even vegan!
How long does this Pissaladière keep?
This Pissaladière can be kept for 3 days in the refrigerator.
Can I prepare this Pissaladière in advance?
Yes, you can make the pizza dough the day before and store it in the refrigerator. Then, take it out one hour before using it. You can also prepare the filling the day before.
Can I freeze this Pissaladière?
Yes, you can! It can be kept for 3 months in the freezer.
Can I make a vegan Pissaladière?
Yes, you can! For this, replace them with sun dried tomatoes. Don’t forget to add a little more salt as the anchovies are salty.
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Pissaladière or Pizza with Onions and Anchovies
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Ingredients
For the pizza dough
- 250 g of flour
- 125 ml of warm water
- 3.5 g dry yeast
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1/2 tsp. sugar
- Olive oil
For the onion and anchovy filling
- 500 g onions
- 12 anchovy fillets in oil
- 12 black olives
- Herbs of Provence
- Olive oil
- Salt and pepper
Instructions
For the pizza dough
- Start by mixing the yeast with 3 tablespoons of warm water and 3 tablespoons of flour from the total amount. Add 1/2 tsp of sugar and mix well. Let the yeast rise for 15 minutes.
- Tip: The water should not be too hot or it will “kill” the yeast and the dough will not rise. The ideal temperature is between 25°C and 35C. When in doubt, I use a small thermometer, like the one used to check the temperature of wine, to measure the temperature of the water before adding it to the yeast.
- Then pour the flour and salt into a large bowl. Add the yeast mixture and water. Mix well. Once you obtain a dough, knead it for a few minutes. You can add a little olive oil if the dough is too dry.
- Put a little olive oil in the bottom of the bowl, form a smooth ball with the pizza dough and place it in the bowl. Let the dough rest for 1 to 2 hours.
For the onion and anchovy filling
- Chop the onions.
- Heat a drizzle of olive oil in a pan, add then the onions. Sauté over medium heat. Season with salt and pepper and add a generous pinch of herbes de Provence.
- Lower the heat and cook over low heat for 30 to 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. If the onions stick to the bottom of the pan, add a little water and stir well.
- Tip: At the end of cooking, add 3 finely chopped anchovies to the onions. This will bring out the taste of the onions!
- Preheat your oven to 250°C. Roll out the pizza dough and form a circle of varying size depending on how thick you want your dough to be.
- Once the pizza dough is rolled out, pour in the onions, not forgetting the edges. Place the anchovies and olives on top of the onions, making sure to place at least one anchovy and one olive on each piece of pissaladière.
- Bake for 10 minutes. Check if it is done. If your dough is a little thick, continue to cook for 2-5 minutes.
