This earthy French flatbread recipe is forgiving and colorful
On Boxing Day, my in-laws always host a potluck feast. Each year, it’s a different theme: Polish, Mexican, Indian. This year, the crowd opted for French. Usually, my husband prepares our offering — he’s quicker in the kitchen; cooking relaxes him. Busy countertops stress me out. I prefer cleaning (oh, and eating). Also, I should mention that my brother-inlaw is a professional chef. Leave it to the experts, I say.
So I’m not quite sure what inspired me to prepare my own version of pisalladière, with no help from anyone else. Picture a French flatbread or a savory tart: puff pastry layered with onions, Niçoise olives, red peppers, and anchovies. Simple enough, I figured, and why not stretch outside my comfort zone for the new year? So off I went to my local Market Basket (which is most definitely inside my comfort zone) in search of puff pastry and veggies.
There are lots of pisalladière recipes out there. I used a mash-up from Sheryl Julian and Andrew Zimmern for general guidelines but ended up making the dish my own with some substitutions (and a couple mistakes). Zimmern’s version, originally published in Food & Wine, calls for pitted Niçoise olives. I couldn’t find them the day before Christmas, so I went with jarred, sliced Kalamata olives instead, which I realize are Greek, but I couldn’t be choosy. I also couldn’t locate a fresh rosemary sprig or parsley — the herb section was picked dry, with nothing but bushy sprigs of dill as far as the eye could see — so a poultry seasoning mix had to do. It was actually pleasantly earthy and fragrant, and I’ll use it next time, too.
Here’s what I did. The recipe is very forgiving.
■ ‚ cup extra-virgin olive oil
■ 2½ pounds yellow onions, halved and thinly sliced
■ Poultry seasoning
■ Salt
■ 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
■ 1 tablespoon minced garlic
■ 2 tablespoons parsley (I used the Gourmet Garden squeeze bottle; no shame here)
■ 1 red bell pepper
■ One 14-ounce package chilled allbutter puff pastry (I used Pepperidge Farm)
■ 1 tin marinated white anchovies
■ ¼ cup sliced Kalamata olives
1. Turn on your favorite background show. Mine is “Odd Mom Out” on Bravo.
2. Coat a skillet with olive oil. Add chopped onions, sprinkled with poultry seasoning and a pinch of salt. Stir until shimmery and fragrant, about 35 minutes. Stir in garlic, squeeze on some parsley, and cook for about 10 minutes more. At this point, splash on some balsamic vinegar, which should evaporate in a minute or two, and let cool. They should look soft and jammy.
3. Cut a red pepper in half and broil until lightly charred. This should take about 15 minutes. I broiled mine on low; I first made the mistake of broiling on high and ended up with a wrinkled, wizened pepper. Once it’s cool, stem it, seed it, and cut into strips.
4. This part comes directly from Zimmern: Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out the puff pastry to a 12-by-14-inch rectangle. Slide the pastry onto the parchment–lined baking sheet and poke it all over with a fork. (I forgot to do this, but it didn’t seem to matter. Ssshhh.) Top with another sheet of parchment and a baking sheet and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the pastry is lightly browned. Remove the top baking sheet and parchment paper and bake the pastry for 15 minutes longer, until slightly puffed and browned. Let it cool for 5 minutes.
5. Next is the fun part: Spread the cooled onions evenly over the pastry like a true artiste, then top with the roasted pepper strips, olives, and anchovies. I poured the anchovies’ olive oil all over the pastry, too, to make it a little softer and less flaky. I also drizzled on a little bit of Tabasco, because I put Tabasco sauce on almost everything.
It took about 90 minutes, all told. The result was a colorful, hand-held snack, simple to transport and to share. It easily served our group of 12 or so people, with a few wedges to spare. (It tasted better the next day, when the dough was a bit more pliable.) I’ll definitely make it again for a cocktail party, hopefully with non-tube parsley next time, and I might confine
I’m not quite sure what inspired me to prepare my own version of pisalladière, with no help from anyone else.
the anchovies to just one side of the tart for less adventurous eaters. It also photographs rather well, if that matters to you.
Regardless, I was proud of myself and my holiday culinary foray. Sometimes, a recipe doesn’t have to be followed to the letter to be passable — even good! — and I’ll remember that next time I venture into the kitchen, hopefully more in 2024.