Three Onion Pissaladiere

30 minutes prep, 30 minutes cook

Serves 6

Ingredients

2 tbsp olive oil

A generous knob of butter

2 red onions, sliced

2 large white onions, sliced

6 small shallots, cut into wedges

2 large garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 small bunch of fresh thyme,

A little plain flour, for dusting

375g all-butter puff pastry

2 large sun-dried tomatoes

15 pitted black olives

1 x 50g tin of anchovy fillets

1 medium egg, lightly beaten

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

Heat the oil and butter in a large frying pan over a low heat. Add the red and white onions and the shallots along with a good pinch of salt and pepper. Cover with a lid and cook for 20 minutes or until soft.

Uncover the pan, increase the heat and continue to cook for a further 10 minutes, stirring, until golden. Stir in the garlic and most of the thyme and cook for a final minute, then spoon into a bowl and set aside to cool completely.

Preheat the oven to 200°C/fan 180°C/gas mark 6 and put a baking sheet in to heat up. (Your cold baking tray with the pissaladière will need to sit on this to help conduct the heat and cook the pastry.)

On a lightly floured work surface, roll out your pastry to about 2mm thick and trim it to fit your baking tray. Score a border around the edge, about 2cm in from the sides. Spoon the golden onions over the centre of your pastry, spreading them out to the border in an even layer. Scatter with the sun-dried tomatoes and olives, then lay the anchovy fillets over the top in a lattice pattern.

Brush the pastry border with a little beaten egg and place the baking tray in the oven, on the hot baking sheet. Bake for 25–30 minutes or until the pastry is golden and crisp. Sprinkle with a few more fresh thyme leaves and serve.