Pissaladière with baby leaves and soused tuna

This makes a wonderful supper dish – it’s sort of half salad and half pizza! It is my favourite kind of meal, because it’s all about contrasts: there’s the hot crunch of the pizza base and cold smooth slices of tuna; there’s the rich creaminess of the onions and the saltiness of the olives and anchovies;  and then there’s the sharp pepperiness of the cress leaves and the lemony tartness of the vinaigrette.

What more could you want?

Serves 4
Preparation time 20 minutes

For the Pissaladière, first make 100g of Lyonnaise onions:
30ml rendered duck fat
2 finely sliced onions
2 sprigs of thyme
1 garlic clove
salt and pepper

✱ Heat the duck fat in a medium-sized saucepan over a moderate heat. Add the remaining ingredients and cook for 60-90 minutes, stirring regularly to ensure the onions don’t catch and burn.

✱ Spread the onions onto 500g of pizza-like bread flour dough in a thick layer. Arrange 50g of anchovies across the surface to form a diamond pattern and stud each diamond with a black olive. Drizzle with olive oil and bake for 20 minutes at 180°C until the base is crisp and golden brown.

For the soused tuna:
400g tuna loin, very finely sliced
salt and pepper
100ml lemon vinaigrette (mix 25ml lemon juice, 37.5ml olive oil, 37.5ml grapeseed oil, salt and pepper)
1 cup baby watercress
1 cup baby mustard cress
1 cup baby radish cress
extra-virgin olive oil

✱ Preheat your oven to 180°C. Warm the pissaladière in the oven for 5–10 minutes while you prepare the other ingredients.

✱ Place the tuna slices in a shallow bowl, season with salt and pepper and pour on the lemon vinaigrette. Place in the refrigerator for a few minutes to marinate. Toss the cresses together in a large mixing bowl.

✱ To serve, cut the pissaladière into quarters and arrange on serving plates. Top with slices of the soused tuna and a mound of the baby cresses. Drizzle with a little extra-virgin olive oil and serve straight away.

An excerpt from the book French Lessons by Justin North – originally published in FrenchEntrée Magazine

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