Classic recipe for French Pissaladière

 The French ancestor to pizza, pissaladière is one of the oldest culinary specialities of southern France and especially Nice – and it’s utterly scrumptious. This recipe for French Pissaladière is easy to make and it’s traditionally served as a snack, with apertifs, as a starter or with a green salad for lunch or a light dinner.

Active time

30 minutes

Rising time

1 hour

Cooking time

1 hour

Storage

3 days

Equipment

Kitchen torch (or gas burner)

Ingredients – Serves 4

Dough
2½ cups (10½ oz./300 g) all-purpose flour
Generous ½ tsp (3 g) salt
⅔ oz. (20 g) fresh yeast
Generous ¾ cup (200 ml) water, divided
4 tsp (20 ml) olive oil

Onion compote

1 lb. 2 oz. (500 g) onions
1 clove garlic
10 salt-packed anchovies
Leaves of ¼ bunch thyme
¼ bunch rosemary
Scant ½ cup (100 ml) olive oil

To assemble

12 anchovies
12 Taggiasca olives
12 rosemary leaves

Method

Preparing the dough

Sift the flour into a large bowl, then whisk in the salt. Dissolve the yeast in 3½ tbsp (50 ml) of the water. Make a well in the flour and pour in the yeast mixture, the remaining water, and the olive oil. Stir until the mixture comes together into a smooth dough. Shape the dough into a ball, place it in a lightly oiled bowl, and cover with a dish towel. Let rise for 1 hour at room temperature.

Preparing the onion compote

Peel and thinly slice the onions. Peel and chop the garlic. Chop the anchovies and thyme. Singe the rosemary using the kitchen torch (or a gas burner), then chop the leaves. Warm the olive oil in a skillet over low heat, then add the onions, garlic, anchovies, rosemary, and thyme. Cook until the onions are fall-apart tender and lightly golden. Adjust the seasonings if necessary.

Assembling and baking the pissaladière

Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C/Gas Mark 6). Cut the anchovies at an angle into 1¼-in. (3-cm) pieces. Drain the olives and chop them if necessary. Roll the dough into a 12-in. (30-cm) disk, ¼ in. (5 mm) thick, and place it on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Spread the onion compote across the dough, leaving an approximate ¾-in. (1.5-cm) border all the way around. Bake the pissaladière for 15 minutes, then remove it from the oven and arrange the anchovies, olives, and rosemary leaves on top in staggered rows. Return to the oven and bake for an additional 5 minutes.

Extracted from Fish and Shellfish: Recipes and Techniques from the Ferrandi School of Culinary Arts by FERRANDI Paris (Flammarion, 2026).

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