Anchovy

Pantry Pissaladière

by:
May  8, 2013
4
4 Ratings
Pantry Pissaladière
Photo by James Ransom
  • Makes one very large rectangle of onion-anchovy goodness
Author Notes

Improvisation encouraged! I sometimes add, very untraditionally, roasted or sautéed mushrooms. Also, about the dough: I've written the recipe with all bread flour, but I typically swap a third of that for spelt or white whole wheat flour. If you do, you'll need to add a couple tablespoons more water. —Nicholas Day

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • The Dough
  • 2 1/3 cups bread flour (or 333 grams)
  • 1/4 teaspoon instant yeast
  • 1 teaspoon salt, plus a pinch (or 6 grams)
  • 1 cup lukewarm water (or 220 grams)
  • The Toppings (and the Topping)
  • 3 large onions, sliced (about a couple of pounds worth, very roughly)
  • 1 can of anchovies
  • 1/4 cup kalamata olives, chopped
  • Olive oil
  • Fresh or dried thyme, a sprinkling
Directions
  1. The Dough
  2. By hand: Mix all ingredients together just until combined. Cover the dough and let it rest for 20 minutes. Then knead it for about five minutes, or until it feels smooth and well-worked. Place the dough in an oiled mixing bowl and let it rise for between -- very roughly -- four to six hours. It will double in size, more or less.(You can also let it rise briefly and then refrigerate it for as long as several days; when you take it out, give it about two hours to come to room temperature.)
  3. By stand mixer: Follow the directions above, using a dough hook for the initial mixing. For the kneading, run the mixer on medium speed for a couple of minutes. It should feel smooth and stretch nicely.
  1. The Toppings (and the Topping)
  2. Caramelize the onions: in a large saucepan over low heat, add a couple tablespoons of olive oil and the onions. Cook slowly, stirring occasionally and adding a pinch of salt, for as long as you have, at least 40 minutes, until golden and sweet and soft.
  3. Preheat the oven to 500 degrees, preferably with a baking stone. (If you don't have a stone, bake the pizza on a baking sheet.)
  4. When your dough is ready, stretch it on a lightly floured surface, gently tugging at the sides until it is almost the size of a baking sheet. (You can also divide the dough and make two smaller pizzas, of course.) If it resists, give it a brief respite, then resume. (If it really resists, let it dangle off the edge of the counter.) Place the dough on a piece of parchment paper
  5. Very lightly coat the dough with olive oil and then spread the onions over the dough. Sprinkle with olives and a touch of thyme. Then lay the anchovies on top.
  6. Slide the topped dough onto the pizza stone. It may take 10 minutes; it may take less. Watch it closely, and a couple of minutes before the end, switch the oven to broil to crisp and brown the toppings. Serve.
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Nicholas Day
I'm the author of a book on the science and history of infancy, Baby Meets World. My website is nicholasday.net; I tweet over at @nicksday. And if you need any good playdoh recipes, just ask.

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6 Reviews

Shortrib
Shortrib October 16, 2020
This was really great! I didn't make the base myself, but the combination of caramelized onions/ olives/ anchovies was fabulous. We had it as a sort of appetizer pizza at a pizza party and it was probably the most popular pizza of the evening!
 
OhMisha
OhMisha August 3, 2017
I have a sourdough starter I use for making bread. Could I use this instead of packaged yeast, and if so what would be the proportion of starter to dough to get a pizza dough like yours?
 
walkie74
walkie74 August 4, 2017
Hmmm...I'd say you could just use the starter the way you would for a basic sourdough pizza crust (this one makes four servings, which should be enough https://food52.com/recipes/17613-neglected-starter-sourdough-pizza-crust-skillet-flatbread-grillbread), and take it from there.
 
OhMisha
OhMisha August 4, 2017
Thanks for the reply and the link! I really appreciate it.
 
walkie74
walkie74 March 12, 2015
I am STILL making this recipe. The only thing that has slowed me down is that hubby is trying to watch his sodium intake. This is one of four pizzas I'm making in honor of Pi Day!
 
walkie74
walkie74 September 17, 2013
I ended up doing a somewhat rushed version of this (the dough rose for 1 1/2-2 hours, the onions cooked for maybe 15 minutes on medium, and the pizza cooked for about 8 minutes).In the spirit of experimentation, I threw some roasted garlic on, and it blew my mind. It was INCREDIBLY good. We ate the whole thing except for two slices. I never knew a pizza without sauce could be this ridiculously delicious. My husband is lucky he wanted lunch the next day, otherwise there would be no pie left!