Yesterday evening, I made something new for dinner, something I had never made (or even heard of before) - it's called Pissaladiere. It resembles a pizza, but is topped very differently. It originated in the region of Southern France. Before I go on, I have to thank my dear friend, Rachel, for giving me the inspiration to try this new dish. She posted it on her delicious food blog
www.browniesformozart.blogspot.com . When I saw the photo of the scrumptious looking pissaladiere she made, I looked on-line for a recipe so I could try it myself. My friend Rachel, made the dough for hers from scratch. I cheated and bought ready-made pizza dough. It turned out so lovely, I am going to make the dough from scratch next time.
I found a great recipe for Pissaladiere on the Epicurious website. I adapted the recipe to my own liking.
I sliced 3 large vidalia onions very thinly and minced 4 cloves of garlic. I used 1 tablespoon of fresh thyme and 1 tablespoon of fresh rosemary (finely chopped) from my garden. In a large skillet, I heated 1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil and sauteed the onions, garlic, herbs, salt, pepper and a bay leaf over low heat with the lid on for approximately 40 minutes. Every once in a while, I gave it a little stir with my wooden spoon.
This is what it looks like when it is done - the onions are sweet and caramelized and the liquid is evaporated. DELICIOUS! This will be the "tomato sauce" for your pizza. Now stir in one tablespoon of capers (drained). Let it sit and cool. In the meantime, get your pizza dough from the fridge and let it rise on your counter top for approximately 30 minutes.
Roll out the dough using flour to prevent sticking. Place in a round pizza pan, lightly dusted with yellow cornmeal. Spread your onion mixture evenly on your dough, leaving an edge for the crust. Next, add approximately 20 kalamata olives and anchovies. It is common to use anchovies, but I only put it on half the dough, because the girls wouldn't like and I am not a big fan either. They are a bit too salty for my taste. But, Nuno loves them!
Unfortunately, in all the excitement, I forgot to take a picture of the dough and all the toppings before I popped it in the oven at 425 degrees F (400 degrees F using my convection oven) for 30 minutes.
And here it is, in all it's glory! I must say, I wasn't sure if the girls were going to like it, but they did! The onions almost melt into the dough and become crispy. The flavor of the onions is so mild, with a hint of thyme and rosemary and the saltiness of the olives and anchovies counter balance the sweetness. This was wonderful. Nuno and loved it. It was something new and different. I will definitely be making this again. Thank you to Rachel for the inspiration! Maybe I have inspired YOU?
I will leave you with this great quote...
"There is no love sincerer than the love of food." - George Bernard Shaw
