Pissaladière Focaccia Recipe

Felicity Vincent
Oct 18, 2024
4 min read

Taste the south of France in this pillowy focaccia.

An easy recipe using cupboard ingredients, perfect for an apéritif, served with salad for lunch or a great flavoured bread to dip in soup. This focaccia is topped with the flavours of a pissaladière, a traditional tart from the South East of France: anchovy umami, soft caramelised onions, thyme, cumin and olives.

Ingredients (serves 4):

Pissaladière Focaccia Recipe:

3 large white onion
1 tin anchovies in oil
1 jar of olives (I prefer green but either works)
10g thyme
1 tsp cumin powder
S&P
2-4 Tbs EVOO
400g plain flour
7g dried yeast
270mL tepid water
1 tsp sugar
8g fine salt

Method for this pissaladière focaccia recipe:

Preheat the oven at 200°C.
Make the focaccia dough: Mix together the yeast and tepid water. Add the flour, sugar and salt to a large bowl, pour in the yeasty water and knead until it forms a ball that's a bit on the wet side. Add more water if needed. Knead it for another 5 minutes or until it becomes bouncy and elastic. Leave to prove in an oiled dish until it doubles in size. Knock back the air in the dough and knead it for 30 seconds, then place in an oiled oven-proof dish, leave to rise again for 3à-40 minutes or in the fridge for longer.
Peel the onions, cut them in half then thinly slice them.
Pour the tin of anchovies with their oil into a large saucepan on low heat. Break down the anchovies with a wooden spoon until they form a mush and melt into the oil. Add the tsp of cumin and stir it in.
Add the onions to the pan with a generous pinch of salt and the sprigs of thyme. Let them sweat off for a couple of minutes while stirring then cover the pan and leave them to caramelise and soften on a low heat for 30 minutes. Check them occasionally to make sure they're not catching, and if so add a bit of water/balsamic vinegar. After 30 minutes the onions should be soft, caramelised and melt in the mouth. Turn the heat off and leave them to cool down.
Create the dimples in the focaccia with 2 Tbs EVOO, then top with the caramelised onions. Scatter olives on top then bake in the oven for 30 minutes or until golden brown.
Serve a slice with a dressed salad/soup and enjoy. Bon appétit!

More about this foccacia recipe:

Shortcuts:

Use a jar of caramelised onion and top with anchovy slices and olives.
You can also use a base of pre-bought puff pastry or pizza dough to make it as a tart instead.

Keys to success:

Make sure not to overproof the focaccia dough, alternatively you can leave it to prove more slowly in the fridge overnight.
Caramelise the onions slowly to prevent burning and avoid developing an acrid/bitter taste.

Health benefits of white onions:

They're a good source of:

vitamin B7 (biotin) which supports cell health and is needed to transform food into energy;
soluble fibre which helps lower blood cholesterol, and slows the release of energy from food. It also helps bulk stools with water and serves as a prebiotic, meaning it feeds our gut bacteria for a healthy microbiome which has its own multitude of health benefits;
insoluble fibre - helps to make you feel full, and soften stools for better digestive health. It is also associated with phenolic compounds and therefore antioxidant properties.

White onions/ Brown onions contain many other beneficial active compounds, most notably a large collection of flavonoids and sulfur-based compounds also responsible for their pungency. These are antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial, protecting against cancer, diabetes and chronic neurological or cardiovascular diseases.

Quercetin in particular is an antioxidant and anti-inflammatory. It may support heart health and lower high blood pressure, and has also been noted to reduce harmful bacterial growth and support the immune system in combatting viral infections and reducing allergy symptoms, as well as protecting against degenerative brain disorders.

Anthocyanins (more in red onions) - have excellent antioxidant activity which may protect from cancer and age-related diseases including neuronal and cardiovascular ones as well as reducing bone loss. They have also been shown to have protective affects on our GI tract, reducing inflammation and protecting the intestinal barrier (which otherwise might let bad things through), as well as promoting our gut microbiota which in turn has positive effects on our immune system, mental health and weight.

Cystein sulfoxides and other allium sulfur compounds - these are anti-apoptotic and antioxidant so may in part help prevent age-related diseases; they also have anti-inflammatory and anti-hypertensive properties helping to reduce cardiovascular diseases. They may also reduce the risk of cancer, as well as lower cholesterol levels.

Apparently, onions have also been shown in a few studies to increase testosterone levels in males, explaining why they were seen as an aphrodisiac throughout history.

Interestingly, a study found that the antioxidant activity reduces the further into the onion layers you get so that's something to bare in mind. And of course, note that some people are intolerant to onions.

For me, the biggest takeaways are that onions are particularly beneficial to protect against cardiovascular diseases and support the gut microbiome. This is of course alongside a healthy lifestyle.

Mood Food - Calm:

Supporting a healthy gut microbiome - the sulfur compounds found in onions have been shown to have antibacterial properties against harmful bacteria such as E-Coli; therefore promoting the growth of healthy gut bacteria. It also contains inulin and other prebiotic fibres which help to feed the microbiome. A more diverse and healthy microbiome has been linked with better mental health and mood regulation;

Flavanols - reduce inflammation in the body, including the brain; and have been shown in early studies to reduce depression-like behaviours.

In particular quercetin (flavonoid) - reduces stress and inflammation in the body including the brain also preventing neurodegeneration.

Hopefully this makes you excited to try this and many other onion recipes during their season!

You can find lots of ideas on how to cook with white onions in my newsletter: https://felicityvincent.substack.com/

Video:

Cook along with this step-by-step video and learn how to make my pissaladière focaccia recipe.

Photos: