Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Sausage & Onion Pissaladiere

One of my favorite food memories from Nice, France is my first bite of pissaladiere. Pissaladiere is a type of pizza that is commonly made without tomatoes and is simply topped with caramelized onions and maybe garlic and anchovies. Delicious at any temperature, easy to hold, and inexpensive, it is the perfect French version of fast food.

This Sausage & Onion Pissaladiere is my version of this treat. I take a thin crust refrigerated pizza crust drizzled with a little olive oil and then add a generous helping of sweet-as-candy caramelized onions, slightly spicy Italian sausage, some grated Gruyere, and fresh thyme. The key to getting a crispy crust is to heat your pan in a hot oven before you place the crust on it. This allows the crust to start cooking immediately and is a great trick when cooking any pizza crust. I discovered a fantastic regionally produced Italian sausage over the summer and use it here. A crispy
crust and tasty sausage are fine, but they are simply the supporting players to the star here; caramalized onions. Everytime I make this I always regret not adding more onions!

This recipe is easily adaptable to your personal preferences, just don't skimp on the onions!

Sausage & Onion Pissaladiere

2 links Italian sausage
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon sugar
salt and pepper
1 refrigerated thin crust pizza dough
1/4 cup grated Gruyere cheese
1 tsp fresh thyme leaves

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place pizza stone or pan in oven.

Cook sausage until done. Drain and set aside.

Place butter and olive oil in large skillet and melt over medium high heat. Slice onions thinly and add to pan. Add sugar, salt, and pepper. Cook onions over medium heat until they are starting to soften. Reduce heat to medium-low. Cook until onions are caramelized and golden brown, about 20 minutes.

Remove pizza stone from oven. Unroll pizza crust onto stone, being careful not to touch the hot pan. Quickly drizzle olive oil over crust. Sprinkle sausage, onions, and cheese over crust. Finish by scattering thyme leaves on top. Cook until crust is golden brown and cheese has melted, about 8-10 minutes. Slice and serve. Can be eaten at room temperature too!
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4 comments:

  1. I love pissaladiere - mostly just with onions and anchovies. I'll have to try it with sausage now. Sounds great.

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  2. I can just imagine how heavenly this smells baking!

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  3. This pizza looks amazing! I am going to have to try it sometime! I am glad I found your blog! You have some neat stuff!

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