Caramelised Onion Tart (Pissaladiere)

Traditional, a pissaladiere is pizza-like based caramelised onion tart, topped with anchovies and olives, which is often served in Italy and France. The tart itself makes an excellent packed lunch or dinner (served with a salad). All I'm saying is give it a try, I know caramelised onions sounds like it will take ages to cook, and yes it does when you're starving, and the end result is worth the effort.

Serves 2 (or one greedy person-like me) (Recipe Adapted from Little Book of Lunch)

• 1/3 sheet puff pastry, you can used pre-made or make your own (if using pre-made puff pastry, remove from the freezer a day before)
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 2 large onions, thinly sliced
• knob of butter (about a 1 tbsp)
• 1 large tbsp. dark brown sugar
• 2 spring thyme
• 6 anchovies
• 6 black olives
• A little milk for brushing
• a glass of water
• salt and pepper

Equipment Needed:

• Baking sheet lined with baking paper
• Frying Pan
• Wooden Spoon
• Pastry Brush
• Small bowl
• Glass
• Rolling Pin
• Fork
• Chopping board
• Knife

1.Turn the oven to 400f/200c/Gas Mark 6 and remove the pastry from the fridge. Grease and line your baking sheet.

2.Add the oil to the frying pan, place on medium heat and add the onions. Stir occasionally.
3.Add the butter, sugar, salt and pepper to the onions. Add the water to create a saucy consistency and to prevent burning.
4.Add the thyme and leave to cook for 15-20 minutes. Keep topping up the water occasionally and adding it to the pan.

Once the butter, sugar, salt and pepper has been added, the colour should start changing:

 

After 6 minutes

After 15 minutes

After 20 minutes

Ta-Duh! Done! Brown colour and soft onions that have reduced in size.

5.Meanwhile, roll out the puff pastry to fit your baking sheet. Trim or cut to fit. Place on the baking sheet and fold over the sides about 1cm to create an edge. Prick (or if you want to be all expert and pastry about 'dock') the base with a fork to let the steam out and prevent rising.
6.When the onion are soft and a dark brown colour (as seen in the last onion picture), take off the heat and spoon the mixture onto the pastry base taking care no to go over the 1cm edges. Smooth this with a knife.

7.Place the anchovies on top with a criss-cross pattern and add the olives in the middle of the pattern.

8.Brush the edges (with a pastry brush, not an old paintbrush. Don't worry its my version of a pastry brush so its clean.) with milk for a nice colour and bake for 12 minutes, until the pastry is crispy and golden.

Variation:

Ok if you're not a fan of anchovy or olives then that's fine. You can make a nice alternative by skipping out the thyme during cooking and crumbling over 50g feta cheese and THEN adding the thyme by sprinkling it on top.