This recipe was born in Nice and is famous throughout the south of France. The name derives from the local dialect term for salted fish: pissalat. That’s because the original recipe called for a cream based on salted fish. Today, however, the pissaladière is a focaccia made with a filling of salted anchovies, stewed onions and fresh herbs. Black olives are used for the final decoration, giving the recipe an extra touch of flavor. We highly suggest trying the recipe with French olives, too – but good Italian taggiasca olives are fine!
Our recipe for la pissaladière di Nizza
Start by making the dough for the focaccia: Knead 11 oz flour with a pinch of dry brewer's yeast, ¾ cup water at room temperature and ½ oz extra-virgin olive oil. Then add a teaspoon of malt or honey and knead the dough well until smooth and elastic. Only at the end, add a pinch of salt and let it rise for at least a couple of hours. In the meantime, wash 1 lb anchovies well under running water. Then remove the head and central bone.
In a pan, add 2 lb finely chopped onions to a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil and just a few drops of water over low heat. Halfway through cooking, add the desalinated capers, chopped thyme and bay leaf after the onions have taken some color and flavor. Add 2 oz anchovies (blended or chopped with a knife). Be careful, though: You don’t want the onions to take on too much color – they just need to soften and blend with the other ingredients. Once the dough has risen, roll it out with your hands inside a well-oiled baking sheet. Season with the onions and decorate the pissaladière with the remaining anchovies in a grid pattern, like a classic tart! Or you can arrange the anchovies in a different way. No matter what, the anchovies will look beautiful (and delicious). Add some desalinated capers and black olives to complete. Bake at 390°F (200°C) for about 25 minutes.
Yes or no to puff pastry dough?
If you don't feel like preparing the base of the pissaladière you can use ready-made puff pastry or brisé, but let's be honest, the result will not be the same. The peculiarity of this focaccia is also the consistency that must be more or less that of a pizza. Ready made pizza dough? Yes, but only if you really do not have time.
The sardenaira version from Liguria
There is also an all-Italian version of the pissaladière. Typical to Liguria – Sanremo to be more specific – and it’s called la sardenaira. To make it, you’ll first need to add more yeast to the dough. (It will be soft and fluffy like a traditional Ligurian fugassa – the local dialect term for focaccia.)
For 1 lb flour, you’ll need ½ oz fresh brewer’s yeast, 9 oz water, 2 ½ oz extra-virgin olive oil and a pinch of salt. Once you’ve made the focaccia dough, leave it to rise for a few hours. Then roll it out and season with tomato sauce, desalinated capers, olives, desalinated anchovies, an abundance of oregano and poached garlic cloves. This is the peculiarity of this recipe: Not one garlic clove or two – we need at least a dozen scattered all over the surface! Then bake the focaccia after seasoning it with a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil at 445°F (230°C) for about 25 minutes.