Pissaladière is a French Provencal tart or pizza made with caramelized onions, Nicoise olives and anchovies. The Principality of Monaco is about 3 square miles in size, and wedged between France and Italy. The Monaco version of a Pissaladière adds tomatoes to honor their Italian influence. This recipe is wonderful as a savory appetizer, easy to make, and delicious to snack on while watching the Grand Prix on TV or sitting on a sun-drenched terrace on the Mediterranean.
A true Pissaladière always adds anchovies to intensify the salty flavor against the sweet caramelized onions, and are placed in a diamond or X shape pattern on the dough with an olive in the middle. Since anchovies are not a big hit in our family I’ve made them optional in this recipe. To celebrate the glamour of the Monaco Grand Prix, I used champagne to cook the onions, but white wine works too.
I served the Pissaladière with a “French Monaco”, a speciality drink make of ice cold Stella Artois beer, lemonade, and pomegranate syrup.
Update: Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes driver won the Grand Prix. Poor Danny Riccardo (Red Bull) got screwed by his pit team when they botched a tire change while he was in first place. Scuderia Ferrari's Vettel came in 4th. Canada is next on June 12th!
Monaco is probably the most famous of the Grand Prix races. The race takes place on the Circuit de Monaco, a race track on the winding streets of the stunningly beautiful towns of Monte Carlo and La Condamine which are situated on the harbour in the Principality of Monaco. It is breathtaking to watch. All eyes will be on the Mercedes Team, the Scuderia Ferrari Team, and Red Bull’s 18-year-old wonderkid Max Verstappen as they battle it out. Chris Hemsworth looks good in Ferrai red.
Monaco Grand Prix : Pissaladière (Caramelized Onion and Tomato Tart)
Ingredients
- 1 pound store-bought pizza dough
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 tablespoons olive oil
- 4 large sweet onions thinly sliced (they will cook down!)
- 3 roma tomatoes cored and sliced
- ½ cup white wine or champagne
- 1 tablespoon Herbes de Provence
- 1 small jar anchovies optional
- ½ cup pitted Nicoise olives or canned, pitted black olives
- 1 tablespoons kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- Melt butter in a large skillet over low heat. Add 1 tablespoon oil, onions, and salt and cook stirring once or twice for fifteen minutes or until the onions begin to brown. Mix in a splash of the champagne/wine and stir.
- Continue to cook for about an hour, stirring often until the onions are golden and have caramelized. If the onions look dry, add splashes of more wine/champagne as needed.
- Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
- While the onions are cooking, roll out the dough on a floured board to fit a 9 X 13 baking sheet. Brush the baking sheet with a light layer of olive oil. Place the dough on the pan. Brush the top of the dough with a light layer of olive oil, especially on the borders.
- When the onions are cooked, stir in the Herbes de Provence and black pepper, and take off the heat.
- When ready, spread the onions in an even layer over the dough.
- Arrange the tomato slices over the onions.
- Lay the anchovies over the onions to form a diamond pattern (optional).
- Arrange the olives on the top so each piece gets at least one or two.
- Bake at 450 degrees 10-15 minutes, until the dough is cooked and golden.
- Cut in rectangles and serve hot or room temperature.
- Note: An easy way to core Roma tomatoes is to cut them in half lengthwise, and use a spoon or melon baller to remove the inner core.
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