PIZZALADIÈRE

Convivial cooking. I don’t indulge too often. Though with certain recipes (Pizzaladière) and certain company (my dear friend Ali), it can be very amusing. One person happily kneading the dough whilst the other is forced to tears from slicing so many onions. Next, one is rolling out the dough whilst the other is stirring the onions down to a puree like texture. Pass the bottle of Bordeaux, recount a cheeky story and voila the almost perfect Pizzaladière.

For me this recipe conjures so many memories. Lunch on a park bench in Provence, dinner parties in Paris and entrée at France Soir restaurant in Melbourne. But my fondest memory would be the sultry afternoons in Singapore that I spent making Pizzaladière with my dear friend Ali. She would enthusiastically throw herself into each recipe step whilst telling me stories of her time in France. Those wholesome sounds (carmelising onions, dough been thrown against the bench) were drowned out by our excited chatter. Until we reached the final step. Attention focused. Silence. Performing the cross hatch of anchovies and the olive placement in the middle of the diamond is no small feat. And how proud we both were when we added the final olive and placed it in the oven.

Captive companion: The Ali…tu me manques

Captive location: The town square in Gordes, my favorite town in Provence

Captivating comment: “Okay, now I agree with you, we did need that many onions!”

Captive drop: A bottle of Bordeaux…or any French red for that matter.

INGREDIENTS

Dough

15 gm dried yeast

400 gm strong plain flour

2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

Topping

8 large onions, sliced thin

10 Greek or Kalamta olives, de-seeded and halved

15 sprigs of thyme, leaves removed

20-30 anchovies (for lighter anchovy flavor, you can halve them lengthways)

4 Roma tomatoes, skin and seeds removed, roughly chopped

100g butter

1 table spoon of brown sugar

For Dough

1.     Combine yeast and 40ml water in a small bowl and stir until yeast dissolves. Add 2 tbsp flour and stir until combined. Cover and stand in a warm place for 30 minutes or until foamy.

2.     Place remaining flour in a large bowl, make a well in the centre and add yeast mix, 1½ tsp sea salt and 200ml water. Mix together, then knead on a lightly floured work surface for 10 minutes or until smooth and elastic. Divide into 4 and place on a greased oven tray, brush with oil, cover with a tea towel and stand in a warm place for 2 hours or until doubled in size.

For Topping

1.     Pre-heat the oven to 180degrees.

2.     Over medium heat in a heavy based pot, melt butter and add onions. Stir intermittently.

3.     After 10 minutes, add tomatoes and thyme, continue to stir the mixture.

4.     After 20 minutes, add sugar and then continue to cook until onions are almost breaking down (the mixture should almost resemble a puree)

5.     Roll out dough into a rectangle and spread a thick layer of the onions on top.

6.     Make an X with the anchovies in the middle of the rectangle base. Then place rows 4cm parallel to each line until a cross hatched pattern emerges.

7.     Place ½ an olive in the middle of each diamond.

8.     Place in oven for 30 minutes or until dough is golden brown

Recipe Source: For the dough: Gourmet Traveller Magazine: http://gourmettraveller.com.au/pizza-dough.htm