Rachel Allen's Pissaladiere

This French dish is like an oniony pizza. The word pissaladière derives from the Provençal French pissalo or 'salt fish'.

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   1. Make the pastry. Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a wide, heavy-bottomed frying pan, then add the onions. (The pan will seem quite full at first, but the onions will melt down considerably after about 10 minutes.)
   
   Stir the onions in the oil and cook over a low heat, covered, for at least 20 minutes, stirring continuously and scraping the base of the pan every few minutes.
   
   2. Now add the garlic, herbs and salt, pepper and sugar, and continue cooking for 10 minutes until the onions begin to melt and turn golden. Taste for seasoning, adjusting if necessary, and remove from the heat.
   
   3. Preheat the oven to 180C/gas 4. Remove the pastry from the fridge, uncover and, with a floured rolling pin, roll out on a floured work surface into a rectangle to fit a 23cm x 33cm Swiss roll tin. Lift it on to the tin and prick the whole base with a fork. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes, then remove.
   
   4. Cover the pre-baked base with an even layer of onions. Arrange the anchovy fillets in a lattice pattern over the onions, placing a whole or halved olive within each diamond.
   
   5. Return to the oven and bake for a further 25 minutes to allow the flavours to blend. Serve hot or cold.