Pissaladière

Oh la laaa! A beautiful Provençal Pissaladière—caramelized onions, anchovy, and olive tart—reminds me being in the south of France... sipping a chilled rosé wine after driving through miles of lavender fields. Well, ok, full disclosure: I have only been to Provençe once, and it was in late September when the second wave of lavender was waning... but the effect was there. Anyway, I just happened to have a preponderance of onions on hand, and it's way too early and hot to make French onion soup, so this just seemed like the right thing to make.

For the caramelized onions

¼ cup good olive oil, plus extra for brushing
2-3 pounds yellow onions, halved lengthwise and sliced ¼-inch thick

2 cloves minced garlic 

1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
generous pinches of kosher salt + black pepper 

For the topping, heat the olive oil in a very large saute pan and slowly cook the onions, thyme, salt, pepper, and garlic over low heat for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onions are limp and sweet, but not too browned.

For the Pissaladière

1 rectangle of buttery puff pastry
12 to 18 anchovy fillets (you can skip this if you don't like)
12 oil-cured olives, preferably French!
flour for dusting parchment paper/baking sheet

Preheat the oven to 400°. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and very lightly dust with flour. Unfold the puff pastry dough onto the parchment paper on the baking sheet. Carefully fold about 1-inch of the dough over to create a raised edge on each side.

Spread the onions evenly onto the puff pastry inside the raised edges. Arrange the anchovies and olives on top in a criss-cross pattern with olives at the intersections, brush the edge of the dough with olive oil, and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the pastry is golden and crisp.

Transfer the pissaladière to a large cutting board by picking up the parchment paper, and cut into squares. Don't forget that chilled rosé wine.