You cook onions until they collapse into a pale jam, spread them on a yeasted dough rolled thin, then lattice anchovy over the top and scatter Niçoise olives. There is no tomato. Eat it warm or cold, in squares, standing up — as much bakery as kitchen.
It belongs to Nice, and to the older Ligurian coast. The name comes from pissalat, the salted-fish paste that once underpinned the whole tart and is now usually replaced by fillets. Peasant baking that learned the patience of stewed onions.
Do not rush those onions — forty minutes over low heat until they melt, never brown to bitterness. The dough should be thin enough to snap. Eat it the day you bake it.
Method
- 01
Mix the flour, salt, yeast, water and 2 tablespoons of the oil, then knead until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes. It should feel alive under your hand, not sticky. Cover it and let it rise for 1 hour, until it has roughly doubled. A warm corner of the kitchen will hurry it along; a cold one will not.
- 02
Slice the onions as thinly as you can — they will cook down to almost nothing, and any thick piece will remain raw at the center. Stew them in the remaining oil with the sliced garlic and thyme over low heat until they have melted into a pale golden jam, a full 40 minutes. Stir often, and do not let them brown to bitterness. Season with pepper; the anchovies will bring the salt.
- 03
Roll the dough to a thin oval — thin enough to snap once baked, not a pizza crust — and transfer it to a baking tray. Spread the onions right to the edges, then lattice the anchovy fillets across the top and dot with the Niçoise olives. It should look like something from a bakery window in Nice. Don't overload it; the onions are the tart.
- 04
Bake at 425°F until the crust is bronzed and the onions have taken a little extra color at the edges, 20 to 25 minutes. The smell of caramelized onion and anchovy will tell you when it is ready. Eat it warm or at room temperature, in squares, standing up if you like. It is as much bakery as kitchen, and it is best the day it is baked.
