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Pissaladière
Serves 6 Starters and mains
Ingredients
- 125g plain flour
- 125g strong white bread flour
- ½ a 7g sachet of easy-bake
- dried yeast
- 1tsp salt
- 1½tsp olive oil
for the topping
- for the topping
- 1½tbsp light muscovado sugar
- 75ml extra virgin olive oil
- 80ml dry white wine
- 3 sage leaves, plus about 10 to fry for the topping
- 2 x 50g tins anchovies in extra
- virgin olive oil
- about 22 small black olives,
- stoned if wished
- ¼tsp chilli flakes
Special equipment
- approx. 35cm x 25cm shallow oven tray
Method
Mix the flours, yeast and salt in a bowl and make a well in the centre. add the olive oil and between 160ml and 175ml of warm water. Mix with your hands until the dough comes together in a ball.
Knead on a clean surface (only floured if the dough seems sticky, which it shouldn’t) until smoothand silky. Put in a clean oiled bowl, cover with cling film and put in a warm place until it’s doubled in size.
Meanwhile, finely slice the onions and put in a large pan with the sugar, olive oil, wine and 3 sage leaves. Cook the onions, uncovered, on a low heat for 30 minutes, until soft. Stir them every 10 minutes so they don’t burn. Increase the heat to medium and cook for another 5 minutes until any liquid has evaporated off. If necessary cook for a further 5 minutes. remove the sage and add a little salt, and tip into a colander set over a bowl to drain (you can boil down the juices to reduce until syrupy and mix with the onions just before using, or just drink the liquid which is delicious and healthy).
Drain the oil from one of the tins of anchovies into a small pan, and add half the anchovies from the tin. Heat gently, stirring, until a smooth paste forms, then put onto a plate to cool. Clean out the pan and drain into the oil from the other tin. Heat, then fry the sage leaves for a few seconds – don’t let them brown, and spoon them out onto kitchen paper. Allow the oil left in the pan to cool. Slice the remaining anchovies in half lengthways. Preheat the oven to 190˚C/375˚f/Gas 5.
Tip the dough onto a clean surface and roll out to a large rectangle as thinly as possible to fit the oven tray, so it comes slightly up the sides – it can be very rough. Spoon the cold anchovy paste onto the dough evenly and spread the onions over. arrange the anchovies in a diamond pattern over the onions. decorate with olives, scatter with chilli flakes and drizzle the cold anchovy oil over the onions. Bake for 30-40 minutes until the dough is golden, scatter with the fried sage leaves and serve hot or cold.
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