Saturday, May 7, 2011

A Green Eggs and Ham moment...Anchovies and Pissaladière

anchovy tin


I know right. Last week surely you thought I was nuts to stand in front of a stove for an hour sweating onions. Here I am this week extolling the flavour of fish and onions on pizza.

Pissaladière is a wonderful pizza-like dish from the south of France. I don't caramelize onions often, once maybe twice a year but when I do I go all out and do a huge batch. So yeah it was a lot of work but it means that I can come home from work, spread my onions on a pita base and in the 5 minutes that it takes to heat this in the oven, dinner is done. The onions go just as well on a traditional pizza dough base and are just sublime on a pastry base. Whatever. Knock yourself out.

I know for some of you the the idea of fish on a pizza seems strange. Let me tell you that there was a time I thought so too. I hated anchovies which was strange because when I was growing up I never actually saw or even tasted an anchovy. It wasn't something that was available in the stores here. In fact, I've been searching my memory to figure out where I got the idea that anchovies were hateful when truth be told I wasn't sure what anchovies even looked like. Stranger even since I totally love these gruesome looking fry-dry.

My opinion of this much maligned fish changed when my favourite brand of Worcestershire sauce was off the market for a while. I tried other brands and they just couldn't measure up. It was only when I read and compared labels that I discovered that the secret ingredient which distinguished my preferred Worcester from it's failing competitors was non other than the 'dreaded' anchovy!

So last year when tinned anchovies and anchovy paste turned up at my supermarket, I decided to try them. To my very great surprise I found that I was already familiar with the flavour of anchovies since they taste exactly like smoked herring albeit much saltier. However the intense brine of these little fish used sparingly goes perfectly with  those melted sweet onions.

To those who say they do not like anchovies permit me to borrow from the character in Dr. Suess' Green Eggs and Ham and encourage you all to try it in the hopes that you discover that you actually like it. Try it, try it and you may. You may I say!

Right so clearly Seuss says it better. No worries I'll not be quitting my day job any time soon:-)

Fear of anchovies conquered. Next up the pound of black, scary, viscous looking eggplant jam I bought at an Arabic shop.  Tell me is there any food you have a pre-conceived hatred of even though you've never actually tried it?

pissaladiere

Ingredients
Serving Size: 1 person

1/4 cup caramelized onions
1 pita bread (white or whole wheat)
4 olives (cut up)
1 or two anchovy fillets ( torn into small pieces. Very intensely salty so you don't need a lot)
1 or 2 ozs crumble feta (not traditional to pissaladière but a great add in)

Method
Spread onions on the pita base. Sprinkle cheese, onions, and anchovies. Heat in a 350°F oven for 5 mins or under your broiler on low until it's warmed through. That's it. You're done.

Photobucket

21 comments:

  1. That looks and sounds heavenly! I think I could eat a whole plate of caramelized onions all by themselves, but this would be even better, thank you for sharing!

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  2. anchovies ARE much-maligned, aren't they! i know this because i'm one of the maligners. :) like tiffany, though, i could eat an entire caramelized onion and not think twice about it. :)

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  3. Gorgeous photos and what a delicious recipe!
    Delphine

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  4. I'm LOVING your photos. I'm going to have to seek out a post....where you talk about your camera kit. And great to see the sweet browned onions on display!

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  5. A chilled glass of white wine and this would suit me just right.

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  6. I LOVE pizzaladiere and eat anchovies on my pizza all the time. We divide our pizza in two: one half gets ham, the other half gets anchovies. Both my children eat anchovies on their pizza! Will try it on the pizzaladiere sans la feta.... (French will tend to add Swiss cheese if they have to have cheese!).

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  7. Gorgeous photos Wizzy! Have you tried white anchovies? I love those :) They're milder and softer than brown anchovies!

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  8. I am going to have to try anchovies...broaden my horizons. ;) Delicious looking meal.

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  9. I love this quicky version without the puff pastry. :)

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  10. I love this idea! Simple but flavourful. Oh and anything with caramelized onions is sured to be yummy.

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  11. This looks delicious. I love anchovies in my Cesar Salad.

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  12. What a simple dish.I never thought of topping pizza with anchovies..even though I like them a lot.Love this easy pizza with mediterranean flavors.

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  13. Delicious! This is one of my favourites - sweet and savoury goodness!

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  14. Ha - yes, anchovies are a secret ingredient in lots of British cooking (like Worcestershire Sauce). Great pissaladiere, gorgeous pics and the addition of feta is right up my alley. By the way, Green Eggs and Ham has a special place in my heart. Just last week my son read it to me and it was the first 'real' (not just 'Watch Spot run') book he read cover to cover with no help!

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  15. The addition of anchovies is just perfect here, an excellent combination of flavors!

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  16. Looks and sounds great. Thanks for sharing.

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  17. i loveeeee anchovies!!! This looks delicious, thanks for sharing!

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  18. Oh I love this, I may always have been able to say that, but this just sounds amazing. Thanks so much for sharing this brilliant recipe with us.

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  19. I completely love pissaladiere! And anchovies are a definite yes.

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  20. I love anchovies! There are so many recipes that just wouldn't be the same without that flavor punch. I've been circling a pissaladiere recipe for years and have never tried it before. Yours looks perfect!

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