Pallesedière 

A classic pastry-based pissaladière was one of the very first things I learned to make at Chez Panisse. The dish made several appearances throughout my time there – a rarity, as the menu changed every day. While I relished the seasonal spontaneity of cooking in that kitchen, I did love the opportunity to revisit this dish: to experiment by adding the thyme in with the onions or on top of the tart (I liked on top because it kept the flavours cleaner); to cook at a consistent high temperature or not (I like a high temperature to start to help the pastry puff a little, before turning it down for a lengthy baking time, allowing maximum caramelisation).

My most recent revelation, regarding the humble yet ubiquitous onion, followed a trip to Nice. Rather than being caramelised before baking, these onions were stewed much more gently. The caramelisation, instead, happened only while the tart baked, resulting in a more unctuous, savoury and juicy layer of onions, rather than a thin, dried out layer of sweetness. Another reminder why the details and technique matter.

Makes: 1 galette, enough for 8–10 slices
Active time: 1 hour
Inactive time: 1 hour 15 minutes

Kitchenalia: 30 cm (12 inch) round
pizza tray, pastry brush

Before you begin: Make your Flaky pastry a day ahead to give yourself a
head start. Not necessary, but helpful.
If you’re making the dough on the day, prepare it an hour before starting this galette so it has time to rest in the fridge.

Ingredients

1 round Flaky pastry, rolled out to a thickness of 3–4 mm (about 1/8 inch)

¼ cup (60 ml) extra virgin olive oil

3 brown onions, thinly sliced

1 tablespoon plain (all purpose) flour

1 egg, beaten with 1 teaspoon water
(egg wash)

8–12 good quality anchovy fillets,
cut lengthways down the middle

¼ cup (35 g) pitted black olives (preferably Niçoise, alternatively Kalamata)

1 tablespoon thyme leaves

Fine sea salt

Method

Prepare your round of Flaky pastry and leave it, rolled out, on a baking tray lined
with baking paper in the fridge.

Preheat your oven to 200°C (400°F).

Begin by placing a sauté pan (or a pot) with a tight-fitting lid on the stove over a medium heat. Add the olive oil, onions and a good pinch of salt.

Cover the pan with the lid and allow the onions to sweat and steam until fully cooked, about 20 minutes; open the lid and give them a stir every couple of minutes. You are not looking for caramelised onions here, just sweet, juicy soft onions. Remove them from the pan and allow to cool.

Take the pastry round from the fridge and spread the flour over the pastry (this will absorb the moisture from the onions). Top with the onions, leaving a 4 cm (1½ inch) clean edge all the way around. Fold the clean edges up and over the onions to create
a crust.

Use a pastry brush to brush the crust with the egg wash, then transfer it to the oven. Immediately turn the heat down to 180°C (350°F) and bake for 40–45 minutes, until the crust is deeply golden, and the onions have started to caramelise.

Remove the tart from the oven. Carefully lay the anchovy fillets in a lovely lattice pattern across the onions and place one black olive in the centre of each lattice diamond. Return the tart to the oven for a further 5 minutes to allow everything to become perfumed with anchovy and olive.

Remove the pissaladière from the oven and slide it onto a cooling rack without the baking paper underneath. Top with a sprinkle of thyme leaves and allow to cool slightly before serving. This is best served warm or at room temperature, but after no more than a few hours out of the oven.

Serving suggestions: As an apéro snack, I like to cut thin slices so people can eat this standing up with their hands. If you want to serve it as a simple lunch or dinner, I suggest a slice of pissaladière with a green salad with lots of raw, thinly sliced radish and dressed with a simple Dijon and French shallot vinaigrette (see page 71).

Flaky Pastry 

This is the only flaky or shortcrust pastry recipe that I use: tarts, quiches, pies, flans – it does them all. The ratio of butter to flour is important, as is not overworking the dough and keeping everything as cold as possible while you work. The moisture in the butter steams as the dough cooks, lending the pastry a rich flavour and a delicate, slightly crumbly texture.

The only variable is the water needed. This depends on the flour you’re using (flours around the world are all so different) and the humidity in the air, thus the varying measurement. This recipe yields enough for one large galette, plus some trim, which can be frozen to be used at a later date. I keep a collection of trim in my freezer, and when I have enough, I thaw it all and press it together to form a new galette. It works a treat.

Makes: Enough dough for 1 large galette
Active time: 20 minutes
Inactive time: 2 hours

Kitchenalia: 30 cm (12 inch) round
pizza tray (or baking tray), pastry brush (for when cooking)

Ingredients

340 g (11¾ oz) plain (all-purpose) flour, plus extra for dusting

1 tablespoon white (granulated) sugar

1 teaspoon fine sea salt

250 g (9 oz) cold unsalted butter, diced

120–160 ml (4–5¼ fl oz) ice-cold water

Method

Place the flour, sugar and salt in a mixing bowl and stir to combine. If it’s a hot day, put the bowl in the fridge or freezer to chill for 5–10 minutes.

If your hands are very warm, dip them in ice water before proceeding. Add the cold, diced butter and use your fingertips to break it up. You’re not looking for an even consistency here, you want some large chunks of butter as well as some little pieces. Flatten the chunks of butter by crushing and smearing them between the palms of your hands to create little sheets. (Alternatively, you can dump everything onto your bench and press the butter down into the bench.)

Make a well in the centre of the mixture. Pour 120 ml (4 fl oz) cold water into the well and use your hands to mix the water into the flour, bringing the dough together to form a ball. If it still has some dry, floury spots, add another 20 ml (1 tablespoon) water, and work the dough until it feels like it will stick together without feeling sticky and wet.

Cut the dough in half, stack one piece over the other and press down – this creates layers in your pastry. Repeat this once more, then press the dough into a disc. Wrap the disc in baking paper followed by aluminium foil (to ensure the dough doesn’t dry out) and leave it in your fridge for at least 2 hours, but up to 48 hours. If you’re not using the dough straight away, pop it into the freezer instead (you will need to thaw it in the fridge overnight before using).

Pull the dough out of the fridge and place it on a well-floured bench. When it has warmed enough to be slightly pliable, use a rolling pin to roll it from the centre, turning as you go, to create a rough circle. Use a liberal amount of flour to prevent the dough from sticking to your bench. Continue rolling and rotating until the dough is about 3 mm (. inch) thick. Trim the dough and leave it on a baking-paper-lined baking tray (ideally a round pizza tray), rolled out, in your fridge until you’re ready to assemble and bake, or use it straight away.

Notes: To make a great flaky pastry, you want to see pieces of butter in the dough when you roll it out. If the butter is diced too small, the pastry becomes short and crumbly, rather than flaky. Layered pieces of butter become the pockets where steam expands and pushes the sheets upward, creating a puff-pastry- like quality.

Keeping everything – ingredients, bowl and your hands – as cold as possible while you work is really important here. This is much easier in winter; in summer, you’ll need to work faster and move the ingredients and bowl in and out of the fridge or freezer throughout the process, right up until the pastry goes in the oven.

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