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Next level pissaladière

A pissaladière on a baking tray cut into portions

Next level pissaladière

Name: Next level pissaladière
Prep time: 1 h
Cook time: 1 h 15 min
Total time: 2 h 15 min
Yield: 8
Cuisine: French
Ingredients: 4 tbsp olive oil plus extra for the tray; 1kg onions halved and sliced as thinly as possible; small bunch of thyme plus extra mini sprigs to serve; 2 bay leaves; 80g jar or can anchovy fillets drained and halved lengthways; 80g small, , dry, stone-in black olives pitted; 20g parmesan finely grated; 200g cold unsalted butter; 1 tsp lemon juice; 200g strong white bread flour plus extra for dusting

Barney Desmazery

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Serves 8

More effort

Prep: 1 hr

Cook: 1 hr and 15 mins

plus around 2 hrs chilling and resting

A star rating of 4.7 out of 5.3 ratingsRate

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Perfect this Provençal classic tart of onions, anchovies and olives by making the flaky pastry from scratch and slowly cooking onions until golden and jammy

Freezable

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Some dishes come with their own long-running debate, and pissaladière is one of them. Is this southern French creation of onions, anchovies and olives a tart or pizza? Both versions have their champions, but for our take, we’ve chosen a crisp, buttery rough puff pastry base. It transforms a simple Provençal dish into a masterclass in two kitchen skills: making flaky pastry from scratch and slowly cooking onions until golden and jammy. Finish with an anchovy lattice, black olives and thyme, then serve warm, rather than piping hot.

Barney's tips for making next-level pissaladière

A homemade rough puff pastry base makes this feel more special than the usual bread dough version.
Cold butter is the secret to properly layered pastry, so chill it before mixing and give the dough time to rest between rolling and baking.
Instead of repeatedly folding the pastry, cut it into three rectangles and stack them on top of one another. This is an easier way to build layers while still keeping the dough scruffy enough for a beautifully rustic finish.
There is no shortcut to properly caramelised onions – give them plenty of time to gently collapse, release their juices and gradually turn sticky and deeply golden.
Scraping the burnished bits from the bottom of the pan back into the onions is where the richest flavour comes from.
Leave the onions to cool completely before spreading them over the chilled pastry. A hot filling would start to melt the butter before the tart reaches the oven, robbing the base of some of its lift and crispness.
Anchovies are essential, but it’s not an anchovy tart – where other recipes use whole anchovies, we’ve halved ours to provide the perfect proportion of umami depth.
Pissaladière is at its best once it has rested for at least 10 minutes, when the pastry is still crisp but the flavours have had time to settle. Serve it warm or at room temperature, finished with tiny thyme sprigs for a smart final flourish

Ingredients

Nutrition

Units:

MetricUS

4 tbsp olive oil

plus extra for the tray
1kg onions

halved and sliced as thinly as possible
small bunch of thyme

plus extra mini sprigs to serve
2 bay leaves
80g jar or can anchovy fillets

drained and halved lengthways
80g small, , dry, stone-in black olives

pitted
20g parmesan

finely grated

For the rough puff pastry

200g cold unsalted butter
1 tsp lemon juice
200g strong white bread flour

plus extra for dusting

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Nutrition: Per serving

kcal415
fat29g
saturates15g
carbs29g
sugars8g
fibre4g
protein7g
salt2.15g

Method

step 1

To make the pastry, coarsely grate the butter into a bowl, tossing it with a spoonful of the flour as you go. Freeze for at least 30 mins, or chill for 1 hr until firm. Stir the lemon juice into 125ml ice-cold water. Tip the remaining flour and 1 tsp salt into a large bowl, then scatter in the frozen grated butter. Toss the butter and flour together using your fingertips. Don’t rub it in like you would for crumble – you want flakes and shards of butter running throughout the flour. Pour in two-thirds of the lemon water and use a cutlery knife to bring the mixture together. Drizzle in a little more water if it’s dry – the dough should be shaggy, but hold together when pressed. Tip the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and bring together using your hands by gently kneading. Shape into a rough rectangle, then wrap and chill for 20 mins.
step 2

Roll the pastry out into a rough 20 x 30cm rectangle, nudging the edges straight as you do. You’re aiming for a marbled dough with streaks of butter, not a smooth, uniform block. Cut the rectangle crosswise into three even, smaller rectangles, then neatly stack them on top of each other and roll out again to a 20 x 30cm rectangle. Cut and stack again, then wrap and chill for at least 30 mins. Will keep chilled for up to three days.
step 3

Heat the oil in a large, shallow, flameproof casserole dish or frying pan over a medium heat. Tip in the onions, season well and stir until glossy and starting to sizzle. Tie the thyme and bay together using kitchen string and drop into the pan. Cook the onions for 40-45 mins, stirring often. For the first 15-20 mins, they’ll look like they’re swimming in their own juices, but don’t worry – the liquid will bubble away. Once the onions start to turn golden and sticky, keep a close eye on them, stirring in the caramelised bits from the base. When the onions are deep golden, collapsed and jammy, remove the herb bundle, then leave the onions to cool fully. Will keep chilled for up to three days.
step 4

Lightly oil a baking tray. Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface into a rough 25 x 35cm rectangle, then carefully lift it onto the tray and trim the edges to neaten. Chill for 20 mins. Heat the oven to 220C/ 200C fan/gas 7. Spread the cooled onions over the pastry, leaving a thin border. Arrange the anchovies on top in a lattice-style pattern, then put the olives in the centre of the diamonds. Sprinkle over the parmesan and bake for 30 mins until the pastry is puffed up and deep golden at the edges and underneath, and the onions are bubbling and burnished. Scatter over some thyme, or put a mini sprig over each anchovy cross. Rest for at least 10 mins before cutting into squares. Once completely cool, will keep well wrapped and frozen for up to three months. Reheat from frozen in the oven before serving.

Barney Desmazery

As Good Food's longest-serving team member, Barney has written and tested thousands of recipes, worked with many of Britain's top chefs and created videos, live events and masterclasses. After gaining a chef's dipolma and working in restaurants across London, France and Australia, he joined Good Food, where he specialises in sourdough baking, foraging, seasonal ingredients and open-fire cooking. Discover more of Barney's recipes

Barney Desmazery chef headshot

Recipe from Good Food magazine, August 2026

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A star rating of 4.7 out of 5.3 ratings

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