Recipe - Pissaladiere Or Onion Tart (Shulman)

One half Recipe pizza crust; see
recipe
2 tablespoon Olive oil
2 pound White or yellow onions;
finely chopped
Salt; to taste
3 lg Garlic cloves; minced
One half Bay leaf
1 teaspoon Fresh thyme leaves; (1 to 2)
Freshly ground pepper; to
taste
1 tablespoon Drained capers; rinsed and
pureed in a mortar and
pestle
12 Anchovy fillets; soaked in
water or milk for
15minutes

Make the pizza dough and prepare the onions while it rises. Heat the oil in
a large, heavybottomed, nonstick skillet over mediumlow heat and add the
onions and a little salt. When the onions begin to sizzle, give them a stir
and add the garlic, bay leaf, thyme and pepper. Turn down the heat to low,
cover and cook slowly for 45 minutes to an hour, stirring often. The onions
should melt down almost to a puree. If they begin to stick, add water a few
tablespoons at a time. Stir in the capers, taste, and adjust seasonings.

Preheat the oven to 475 degrees. Roll out the dough about to inch thick
and line an oiled 14inch round or rectangular pizza pan or baking sheet.
Pinch a generous lip around the edge. Spread the onions over the dough in
an even layer.

Cut the anchovy fillets in half and distribute them over the dough, making
an "X" with every two pieces. If you are not using anchovies, reserve a
quarter of the dough; after topping with the onions, roll out the remaining
dough and cut into strips. Make a lattice decoration on top of the dough.

Bake for 1520 minutes, until the edge are brown and the onions are
beginning to brown. Remove from the heat. Serve hot or cold.

Advance preparation: The filling can be made a day ahead of time and held
in the refrigerator. The dough can be frozen, either before or after
rolling it out. If you have rolled it out, top with the onions before
thawing and put directly into the preheated oven.

Nutrition information per serving: 315 calories, 7 grams fat, 703
milligrams sodium, 10 grams protein, 53 grams carbohydrate, 4 milligrams
cholesterol.

From "Provencal Light," by Martha Rose Shulman (Bantam, 1994).

Recipes from "An evening in Provence," February 18, 1998, By ANN BURGER,
Post and Courier Food Editor, 1998Feb18
http://www.charleston.net/pub/entertain/food/hea0218.htm

Notes: Pissaladiere is a Provencal onion tart. Its name comes from the word
"pissalat" or "pissala," a paste made of anchovies and olive oil seasoned
with cloves, thyme and a bay leaf. If you don't like the anchovies that
decorate the tart, you can reserve some dough to garnish the crust.

Edited by Pat Hanneman (Kitpath) 98mar

Recipe by: PROVENCAL LIGHT, by Martha Rose Shulman

Posted to MCRecipe Digest by KitPATh phannema@wizard.ucr.edu on Mar 23,
1998