AppetizerCarolyne Kauser-AbbottProvencal RecipesStreet FoodTaste

Make Marseille’s Pizza Moitié-Moitié: A Recipe from Rosa Jackson

Rosa Jackson was born in Canada, but she seems to have been destined for the South of France. Like most journeys in life, the road was not direct to Nice, France, where she lives now. However, her passion for food, culinary techniques and helping others to appreciate local cuisine led her from Paris to Nice. If you like food stories and new recipes, sign up for the “Les Petits Farcis” newsletter. Recently, her newsletter featured a trip that Jackson had taken to Marseille. If you are a food lover, Marseille is a city you must visit. Of course, there is the famous fish soup/stew bouillabaisse, but the city claims to have invented pizza moitié-moitié (thin crust pizza with half emmental and half anchovies). Please try Rosa Jackson’s pizza recipe below.

Cooking School and Cookbook Author

Jackson established her cooking school, Les Petits Farcis, in Nice over twenty years ago. Her experience at the esteemed Cordon Bleu school in Paris, where she translated ingredients and techniques into English for international students, set her on a culinary journey. A former Paris restaurant critic, she has written about French food for international publications, including The Financial Times and Food & Wine. She runs the Paris food tour company Edible Paris.

Published in April 2024, Niçoise: Market-Inspired Cooking from France’s Sunniest City is Jackson’s heartfelt, deep dive into life in Nice, France, and the typical ingredients used in recipes at different periods of the year. Far from simply a collection of recipes, the book is a culinary memoir with dishes linked to Jackson’s friends, the French Riviera lifestyle, and her appreciation of the regional bounty.

Rosa Jackson's Cookbook Niçoise

Marseille’s Pizza Moitié-Moitié

Marseille is a cultural melting pot with cuisine that reflects those influences. Unlike any other city in France or the world, at 2600 years old, there are endless discoveries. In Marseille, you feel simultaneously on both sides of the Mediterranean thanks to the large North African population. The capital of Provence still has the Provençal clichés of pastis, pétanque, and colourful facades. At the same time, the city is invigorated by street art, food from across the globe, and an epic coastline. “The people of Marseille,” a Britannica article, provides good background on the city and its population. Vérane Frédiani, filmmaker, journalist, food lover, and feminist from Marseille, explores the global food scene in her book Taste the World in Marseille: Marseille Cuisine by the Marseillais. Frédiani dedicates an entire chapter to eating pizza in Marseille, including her favourite restaurants and food trucks. Enjoy Rosa Jackson’s recipe!

Make Marseille Pizza moitié-moitié

Pizza Moitié-Moitié

Rosa Jackson
Because of the long rising times, start making this pizza well before you plan to serve it — around lunchtime if you plan to eat it for dinner. (You can also let the dough rest in the refrigerator overnight). You can speed up the process by doubling the amount of yeast, but the slow rising develops better flavour and texture. The home cooking method — first in a frying pan on the stove, then under the broiler — was a revelation, resulting in a crisp, perfectly cooked crust. (Adapted from a recipe originally published in Le Fooding).
Prep Time 1 hour
Cook Time 20 minutes
Resting Time 4 hours
Total Time 5 hours 20 minutes
Course Lunch Dish, Snack
Cuisine French, Italian
Servings 4 23 cm pizzas

Ingredients
  

For the Dough:

  • 4 cup all-purpose flour or Italian type 00
  • 2 tsp fine sea salt
  • 1 tsp active dry yeast
  • 1 1/3 cup warm water plus extra if needed
  • 4 tsp olive oil plus a little extra for kneading
  • extra flour for sprinkling
  • some fine semolina for shaping the dough

For the No-Cook Tomato Sauce:

  • 14 ounces plum tomatoes (1 can)
  • 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 8-10 basil leaves
  • 1 tsp coarse sea salt

For the Pistou:

  • 1 garlic clove
  • 1/2 tsp coarse sea salt
  • 1 cup basil leaves packed
  • 1/3 cup olive oil enough to make a loose paste

Additional Toppings:

  • 2 cups Gruyère cheese or Emmental cheese, grated
  • freshly ground black pepper
  • 12 anchovy fillets in oil
  • oregano dried
  • black olives or Greek olives
  • olive oil for drizzling

Instructions
 

For the Dough:

  • Place the flour in a large mixing bowl and mix with the salt. In a small bowl, dissolve the yeast in the warm water. Make a well in the center of the flour and add the yeast mixture. Using a pastry scraper, wooden spoon or your hand, mix until a dough forms, adding a little extra flour or water if needed so that it is soft but not too sticky. Mix in the oil.
  • Knead the dough for about 5 minutes until smooth and silky, adding more olive oil if it becomes too sticky. Place in a bowl, cover, and set aside to rise at warm room temperature for 3 to 4 hours until doubled in size.
  • For the tomato sauce, place the canned tomatoes in a bowl and squash them with your hands, breaking them up into small pieces. Roughly tear the basil leaves and stir them in with salt and olive oil.

For the Pistou:

  • Blend all the ingredients using a small food processor or hand blender (I provide instructions for the pestle-and-mortar method in Niçoise).
  • Sprinkle the dough with flour and divide into 4 balls. Cover these with a damp dish towel and set aside for 2 more hours. Sprinkle with flour, gently press out the air with your hands and let the dough rest, covered, for another 5 to 10 minutes.
  • Preheat the broiler to its maximum setting.
  • To shape the dough, sprinkle your work surface generously with semolina, then roll the first ball of dough into a 9-inch (23 cm) round (I did not have success using the stretching method shown in the video on Le Fooding, so I used a rolling pin).
  • If you don't have a pizza oven, heat an ovenproof frying pan on the stove over high heat and place the dough in the pan. Top with a quarter of the tomato sauce, spreading it all over the dough, then distribute 1/2 cup (about 50 g) cheese over one side of the pizza. Sprinkle with freshly ground pepper.
  • Cook over medium-high heat on the stove until the dough is browned underneath, about 5 minutes. Then place the pizza under the broiler and cook until the cheese is golden and the edges are brown and crusty, about 5 minutes longer. Arrange three anchovies and dab 1 tablespoon of pistou on the tomato side, then sprinkle the whole pizza with oregano and top with a few olives. Drizzle with olive oil. Repeat with the remaining balls of dough.
Keyword Anchovies, Cheese
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

Visitor’s Guide to Marseille

Marseille: Walking Food Tour

Perfect Pizza Pairings

Salade Niçoise - La Salada Nissarda
This salad is presented flat, with the ingredients arranged artistically on the mesclun lettuce. The presentation of this salad is important because it is only mixed before serving.
Check out this recipe
Authentic Salade Niçoise Recipe Cuisine nissarde
My Provençal Salad
This salad plate is a cross between carpaccio and salad. Prepare the tapenade and pesto in advance. Shop for the fresh melon, lettuce leaves and tomatoes at the market in the morning and then plate the ingredients in time for lunch.
Check out this recipe
My Provençal Salade Recipe Chef Anne Challier
Velouté Butternut Squash Soup
This soup is easy to make and will warm (and cheer) you up on a cool day.
Check out this recipe
Butternut Squash Soup
Cauliflower Velouté (with fresh ginger and coconut milk)
This soup, like most, is simple to make. Cook the vegetable add the liquid and purée. Enjoy a warm bowl on a cold day.
Check out this recipe
Cauliflower Soup
.

Please share this with friends and family.

All rights reserved. Perfectly Provence articles and other content may not be published, broadcast, rewritten (including translations into other languages) or redistributed without written permission. For usage information, please contact us.
Syndication Information
Affiliate Information
As an Amazon Associate, this website earns from qualifying purchases. Some recipes, posts and pages may have affiliate links. If you purchase via these links, we receive a small commission that does not impact your price. Thank you in advance for supporting our work to maintain Perfectly Provence.
Previous post

Book Review: The Paris Muse, a Novel by Louisa Treger

Next post

Book Review: Adventures on Land and Sea by Carole Bumpus

Carolyne Kauser-Abbott

With her camera and laptop close at hand, Carolyne has traded in her business suits for the world of freelance writing and blogging. Her first airplane ride at six months of age was her introduction to the exciting world of travel.

While in Provence, Carolyne can be found hiking with friends, riding the hills around the Alpilles or tackling Mont Ventoux. Her attachment to the region resonates in Perfectly Provence this digital magazine that she launched in 2014. This website is an opportunity to explore the best of the Mediterranean lifestyle (food & wine, places to stay, expat stories, books on the region, travel tips, real estate tips and more), through our contributors' articles.

Carolyne writes a food and travel blog Ginger and Nutmeg. Carolyne’s freelance articles can be found in Global Living Magazine, Avenue Magazine and City Palate (Published Travel Articles).

No Comment

Leave a reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating





The reCAPTCHA verification period has expired. Please reload the page.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.