This classic Ligurian recipe proudly features Liguria's small black Taggiasca olives along with onions, sea salt and local anchovies or sardines. You will find it all along the coast in different guises sold cold, warm or hot from the oven. Sweet onions, salty anchovies and divine black olives….what’s not to like?
Prep Time 30 Minutes
Serves 4
Cook Time 30 Minutes
Difficulty Easy
In Nice and along the French coast it is Pissaladiere or the Pizza of Nice. Just across the border into Liguria legend has it that ‘Pizza d'Andrea’ was the favourite of our local hero, Admiral Andrea Doria Genovese (1466–1560), meaning Ligurians were savouring this speciality before another local hero Christopher Columbus had reached the Americas!
A few tips from Nudo chef Jake:
"Pizza d'Andrea is all about the onions...set against the salty sharpness of the olives & anchovies their sweetness is delicious. Make sure you prepare lots of onions as they decrease in volume hugely as they simmer away & slowly caramelise; they just get sweeter & sweeter the longer you cook them for.
Don’t be shy with the oil either, use loads as it helps to prevent them from burning and going bitter, and you can always drain off excess oil when they're done and use for something else.
One last thing, it's nice to lay the anchovy fillets in a lattice that is quite close together so that the pattern is clear...you may want to cut the anchovy fillets in half lengthwise if you’re not too keen on a lot of anchovies."
Ingredients
- Your chosen dough enough to be cut up for 4 generous size helpings. (Find a recipe here if you need)
- 1.2 kg / 2.2lbs of onions peeled and sliced.
- 6 large garlic cloves, peeled and sliced.
- 100 ml / 3.5 floz of Nudo Extra Virgin Olive Oil.
- Sea Salt and Freshly ground black pepper.
- Caster sugar.
- 15 salted anchovy fillets, well rinsed.
- 15 black olives.
Method
- Prepare the onion topping.
- Put the onion and garlic into a shallow pan with the olive oil, a teaspoon of salt and sugar and about 100ml of water. Cover the pan and cook the onions for about 10 minutes taking great care that they do not colour but go soft and creamy. Remove the lid and turn up the heat, stirring the onions for about 15 minutes until they are a dark and caramelised colour and most of the liquid has gone.
- Roll out your dough – either use 20 cm round tins or a large pizza tray.
- Spread the onion mixture evenly over your dough and decorate with the anchovies and black olives in the traditional lattice design used along the Mediterranean coast both in Italy and France.
- Bake the Pissaladiere for 20 minutes or until the base is crispy and the topping a golden brown.