Pissaladière

Last week, I snagged a jar of Ortiz anchovies at World Market. I'd never eaten them, but I'd heard that those Spanish anchovies were some of the best you could get. So, I thought I'd give them a try. Besides, that little wooden-handled fork that came with it was too cute to pass up!


I'm not usually a huge anchovy fan; I like the flavor only when the little fishies are melted into something...like puttanesca sauce or bagna cauda dip. Otherwise, I think they are too fishy and/or too salty. Still, I wanted to make a recipe that would feature these anchovies. After some good suggestions from my tweeps, I finally settled on pissaladiere.

Pissaladiere is kind of pizza from the south of France. There isn't, however, any tomato sauce or cheese. It's simply puff pastry topped with caramelized onions, anchovy fillets, and black olives.

And, oh my! Was it good! Sure, the anchovies were salty, but they were not at all fishy. They were VERY tasty.



Notes:

• I used 1 sheet of store-bought puff pastry, four white onions caramelized in a couple tablespoons of butter & olive oil, the entire jar of anchovies, and pitted kalamata olives.
• Score a frame around about an inch or so around the puff pastry to get those fat, golden edges.
• Caramelize the onions (halved & sliced thin) over low heat so you don't burn them. You want an even golden brown color.
• Rise the drained anchovies if you want a less salty flavor.
  
• Arrange the anchovies & olives in whatever pattern you'd like, but don't just be all willy-nilly with the toppings.
• Bake at 375 for 15-20 minutes or until the bottom of the pastry is cooked (and not soggy) and the edges are golden brown.
• Cut into slices and serve with dry red wine or an Indian Pale Ale (we discovered that the richness of the pissaladiere & the tartness of the beer is a good combination!).