Originating from the south of France, this French onion pizza is the perfect meal for family and friends. What’s even better is that it tastes great cold too so any leftovers can be enjoyed for lunch the following day. Mix and match the toppings depending on what you have in the cupboards.
Ingredients
Shortcrust Pastry
200g plain flour, sifted
100g butter, chilled & cubed
2 tbsp crème fraiche
Roasted Squash
1 medium sized butternut squash, cut into quarters with seeds removed
Olive oil
Fresh thyme
Sea salt
Black pepper
Caramelised Onions
2-3 large onions, sliced medium thick
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
Sea salt
Black pepper
Other Toppings
150g feta cheese
60g organic Kasbah olives, roughly chopped
50g sun dried tomatoes, finely chopped
Few sprigs of fresh thyme
Method
- Preheat the oven to 180 degrees/gas mark 4.
- Drizzle the butternut squash with olive oil and season well with salt, pepper and some thyme. Roast in the oven, flesh down until nice and soft, this will take about 50 minutes.
- Start caramelising the onions. Use a heavy bottomed large pan, melt the butter with the olive oil and add the sliced onions. Cook on a medium heat stirring every 5-10 minutes. After about 25 minutes add the balsamic vinegar and season. Cook for at least a further 25 minutes to get them really soft and sweet.
- Make your pastry. Put the flour and butter in a food processor and mix briefly. Add the crème fraiche and continue to process until it comes together into a ball. Flatten out the ball of pastry using your hands until its about 2cm thick, then wrap it in clingfilm and put in fridge for at least 30 minutes or in the freezer for 10-15 minutes.
- Line an approx. 23cm x 33cm size baking tin with baking parchment. Roll out your pastry on a floured surface to cover the tin including the edges and prick the whole base with a fork. Bake for 10 minutes then remove.
- Once the squash is nice and soft, scoop out the flesh and gently mash it with a fork. Spread the squash thinly over the partially cooked pastry base, layer on the caramelised onions, chopped sun dried tomatoes, roughly chopped olives and crumble over the feta cheese. Top with plenty of fresh thyme.
- Bake in the oven fro 25 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.