During a recent staff meeting, a colleague brought up the appetizing topic of pizza, which kicked off a brief, but lively discussion about our favorite pizza crusts, toppings, and sauces. My personal favorite? A white sauce pizza topped with chicken, onions, and green bell peppers.

But when someone mentioned that they weren’t a fan of anchovies, it reminded me of the pissaladière, a savory pizza-like tart made with anchovies, caramelized onions, herbs, and olives.

The discussion inspired me to try my hand at making a pissaladière! After all, I do enjoy whole anchovy fillets on Caesar salads and I do like onions as a pizza topping! Anchovy on pizza seems to get a bad rap, so I found it intriguing to see the small, briny fish as a main ingredient in this pizza-like Provençal tart.

Ingredients

  • ready-to-bake pizza dough
  • 2 large yellow onions, thinly sliced
  • Manzanilla olives stuffed with pimentos
  • anchovy fillets
  • roasted garlic olive oil
  • 1 T of herbes de Provence

I rolled out the ready-to-bake pizza dough onto a cookie sheet. The particular brand I used came with a sheet of parchment paper (so convenient for both baking and clean-up afterward!) Then I sprinkled some olive oil on the dough and baked it for 5 minutes at 400°F/204°C (I used UC Davis’ roasted garlic olive oil – Go Ags!)

Next I poured the olive oil that the anchovies came packed in onto my pan. I added the thinly sliced onions and sprinkled herbes de Provence on top. Then I sautéed the onions for about 25 minutes over medium heat.

Once the onions were caramelized, I spread them evenly on the pizza crust and then added the anchovy fillets and green olives on top. I baked it at 425°F/ 218°C for 14 minutes.

Bon appétit !

While my fresh baked pissaladière looked unappealingly gray, the combination of herbs and caramelized onions gave off a pleasant aroma. When I took a bite of an anchovy, its distinctive saltiness bit me back! Thankfully, a sip of sweet Chardonnay was able to calm my shocked taste buds.

It’s a simple, inexpensive, but tasty dish! I long for the day I can visit the South of France and savor an authentic pissaladière!

Have you had pissaladière? Tell me in the comments below.