Monday, February 6, 2012

Pissaladiere

As described in the book "Bread Machine Kitchen Handbook", "this French version of an Italian pizza is typical of Nicoise dishes, with anchovies and olives providing the distinctive flavour typical of the region". 

Ever since I've seen recipes using canned anchovies with the descriptions "stir until the anchovies are melted ", I have been curious about how anchovies can be melted. Anchovies is a common ingredient over here in Asian cooking, but what we have over here are usually the dried ones, which we use to make a base for stock and cooked in various dishes and can be deep-fried till crispy as a snack. But I have never come across anchovies that can be "melted" when cooking. Though this Pissaladiere recipe does not require the anchovies to be "melted", I can now fully understand how that can happen when I purchased a can of anchovies in oil.  It is quite costly, more than RM8.00 for one can (product of Spain), and there are only about 8 pieces of anchovies inside! 

These canned anchovies are salted and soaked in oil and are really soft, easily broken to pieces when I remove them and I can see that these can be easily "melted" if cooked further. They are actually very much similar to our local salted mackerel fish (mui heong ham yee), soaked in oil, which are very tender and can be mashed easily. 


This pizza is a healthier version with no presence of any cheese! The dough is soft and I have got to let it rest and stretch a couple of times to fill up the pan.


The result is a nice, fluffy, soft crust. Instead of using tomato sauce for the base as in most pizza, this uses only  a tablespoon or so of Dijon mustard. If you are not a fan of mustard, I guess you can always substitute with your own favourite tomato sauce. The filling are just onions, basil leaves, black olive and anchovies, it is best to break the anchovies to little pieces and scatter all over, as it is quite salty. 


Review from my kids : Where's the cheese? How come there's no cheese on this pizza????  Oops, sorry kids, I did thought of adding some cheese to it, but decided at the last minute to follow exactly as the recipe..maybe next time!!
Overall review : Nice pizza with soft, fluffy crust that would make a great base for any pizza. I enjoyed it with a cup of warm Earl Grey tea.

Exciting Announcement !!!
My baking buddy, Zoe from Bake For Happy Kids will be starting a new blog hop "Cook Like A Star". Each month a celebrity chef will be chosen, and everyone is invited to cook from any of that chosen chef's recipes! "Cook Like A Star" will launch in March and Zoe has chosen Donna Hay as the celebrity chef of the month. Please hop over to Zoe for more details. I hope everyone will join in this exciting blog hop, see you there!


Pissaladiere
(adapted from "The Bread Machine Kitchen Handbook" by Jennie Shapter)
100ml / 3-1/2 fl oz / 7 tbsp water
1 egg
225gm / 8oz / 2 cups unbleached whole bread flour
5ml / 1 tsp salt 
25gm / 1oz / 2 tbsp butter
5ml / 1 tsp easy bake (rapid-rise) dried yeast

For the filling
60ml / tbsp olive oil
575gm / 1-1/4 lb onions, thinly sliced
15ml / 1 tsp Dijon mustard
3-4 tomatoes, about 280gm/10 oz, peeled and sliced (I did not bother peeling)
10ml / 2 tsp chopped fresh basil
12 drained canned anchovies
12 black olives
salt and freshly ground black pepper
  1. Pour the water and egg into the machine pan. If the instructions for your machine specify that the yeast is to be added first, reverse the order in which you add the liquid and the dry ingredients.
  2. Sprinkle over the white bread flour, ensuring that it completely covers the water and the egg. Add the salt in one corner of the pan and the butter in another corner. Make a small indent in the centre of the flour (but not down as far as the liquid) and add the easy bake dried yeast.
  3. Set the bread machine to the dough setting; use basic or pizza dough setting (if available). Press Start.Then lightly oil a 27 x 20cm/11 x 8 in Swiss (jelly) roll tin (pan) that is about 1cm/1/2 in deep.
  4. Make the filling. Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan and cook the onions over a low heat for about 20 minutes, until very soft. Set aside to cool.
  5. When the dough cycle has finished, remove the dough from the machine and place it on a lightly floured surface. Knock it back (punch it down) gently, then roll it out to a rectangle measuring about 30x23cm/12x9in. Place in the prepared tin, and press outwards and upwards, so that the dough covers the base and sides.
  6. Spread the mustard over the dough. Arrange the tomato slices on top. Season the onions with salt, pepper and basil and spread the mixture over the tomatoes.
  7. Arrange the anchovies in a lattice and dot with the olives. Cover with oiled clear film (plastic wrap) and leave to rise for 10-15 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6. Bake the pissaladiere for 25-30 minutes, or until the base is cooked and golden around the edges. Serve hot or warm.

19 comments:

  1. Thanks Joyce for being so supportive for my forthcoming event!

    I think I have the same Pissaladiere recipe too and it has been in my to-bake list for ages! Seeing your post, I think I have to bake this soon...

    Typically, I think Pissaladiere has no cheese...hee hee. Funny that your kids love eating these with cheese. My husband and I just simply love the melting taste of the baked anchovies on this focaccia.

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  2. This looks good! Happy Chap Goh May to you!

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  3. This looks good, but I have yet to make a proper version with anchovies. I don't care for them and I forgot to make it the last time my sister visited, who likes them.

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  4. This looks beautiful, Joyce - Pissaladiere is one of my favourite things - I just totally love the combination of tomatoes, olives, anchovies and basil. Heaven on a plate and no cheese required :-)

    Thanks for sharing at Cookbook Sundays.

    Sue xo

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  5. mmm..yummzz..should have told me yesterday that you plan to make this. else, i'll drop by..haahaa..

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  6. Sounds delicious! I love any pizza-type food!

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  7. Joy, I love Pissaladiere! I made Ina Garten's version for Joe and I last year. It was fabulous, and was almost exactly like your version. I know a lot of people don't like anchovies, but I don't mind them at all. I would have loved to have shared this with you! :o)

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  8. I just had anchovies yesterday and I definitely love to this recipe. Looks so good :)

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  9. i think one day i will also need to buy that ' mui heong hum yee' and see how it taste like..:)

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  10. Very interesting recipe!It sounds yummy!Thanks for sharing,dear!

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  11. My husband loves cheese-free pizzas. This looks really delicious with anchovy.

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  12. This is a great and healthy pizza topping idea! I would be very pleased to be served that any time of the day. :)

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  13. this looks amazing. I am a sucker for a good pizza and a healthy lighter one at that!

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  14. I got my tongue all twisted trying to pronouce the name of this pizza. I like that there is no cheese and got anchovies!

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  15. Hi Kitchen Flavours, I love anchovies, but I guess I'll take a pass on tinned ones. Can't even pronounce the name, ha ha.
    But it does look delicious.
    I just love mine fried with sprinklings of sliced onions and chillies. Or maybe in a soup dish.

    I can see you a lady who eat lives to eat....and your innovative, adventurous cooking always makes it a pleasure dropping by here.
    You have fun, and keep a song in your heart.
    Lee.

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  16. Yes, I too am very curious about this type of anchovies, glad you posted about it, now some of my curiousity has been satisfied except for the taste lol! I can understand why your kids are looking for cheese, I would too!:D

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  17. look delicious, many times I dont eat anchovies!

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  18. Looks great .....Cheese free pizza with anchovies is something I would love to try!

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  19. What a delightful pizza! No cheese, so funny with your kids :) Anchovies are a frequent in European Cuisine and "melted" for pasta dishes, but this is a lovely way to prepare them as you have here :)

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