Pissaladière recipe

This French-style onion tart makes a lovely light lunch. A pissaladière is a type of flatbread pizza from the south of France, and also popular in northern Italy.

Rather than a tomato base, it uses caramelised onions. The topping is salty, preserved anchovies - the perfect contrast to the sweetness of the onions. It's an absolute treat. There is no need to make your own base - a flatbread or a pre-made pizza base makes this so easy to prepare. It forms a really crisp, thin-crust which is the perfect vehicle for the slow-cooked, softness of the onions. This is one of our favourite buffet food options - it's always popular. It makes a great lunch option with a green salad too, and it's brilliant for taking on picnics too.

Ingredients

• 6 onions, finely sliced
• 2 sprigs thyme
• 60g butter
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed
• 2 tbsp muscavado sugar
• 2 tbsp good quality balsamic vinegar
• 3 pizza or bread wrap bases (we used Crosta & Mollica Piadina)
• 24 anchovies, drained
• 125g black olives, drained

Method

1. Cook the onions, thyme and butter, stirring constantly, on a medium heat for 15-20mins until softened and caramelised. Stir in the garlic, sugar and balsamic, and cook for another 5mins. Turn off the heat allow to cool.
2. Preheat the oven to 200ºC/400ºF/Gas 6. Spread the onions over the 3 bases.
3. Divide the anchovies and olives between the bases, criss-crossing the anchovies over the onions and dotting the olives in between.
4. Place in the oven and bake for 15-18 minutes until golden brown. Remove and allow to cool before packing or slicing and eating.

Top tips for making pissaladière:

Traditionally a pissaladière is a rectangular pizza and the anchovies are placed in a diamond lattice pattern. If your pizza bases are round like ours, you can place the anchovies in any pattern you like as long as they are evenly spaced so you get some with every mouthful.

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