Ingredients
| 6 tablespoons (85g) unsalted European butter, diced | |
| ½ teaspoon fine sea salt | |
| 1 cup (140g) all-purpose flour | |
| 4 large eggs, at room temperature | |
| 10 anchovy fillets, finely chopped | |
| 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more to finish | |
| flaky sea salt |
I first learned to make pâte à choux in pastry school in my early twenties, piping the thick, sticky dough into éclairs and profiteroles. Then, when I moved from New York to Paris, it was savoury pâte à choux over and over by way of shiny, stretchy dough run through with a gratable cheese to make gougères. But it wasn’t until I started spending time in Provence that I came to know anchovy choux. Quite the same versatile butter-flour-egg-water, but now laced with bits of salty, briny anchovies.
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Instructions
| 1. | Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper. |
| 2. | In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, combine 240ml of water, the butter and fine sea salt. |
| 3. | Heat until the butter is melted and the mixture is hot but not boiling. |
| 4. | Add the flour all at once, lower the heat to medium, and use a wooden spoon to stir constantly until the dough pulls away from the sides of the pan, a smooth ball forms, and the mixture starts to leave a film on the pan, 3 to 4 minutes. |
| 5. | Transfer the dough to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. |
| 6. | Mix on medium-low speed until the bowl no longer feels hot to the touch, then add the eggs, one at a time, making sure each is mixed in before adding the next. |
| 7. | Once all the eggs are added, increase the speed to medium-high and beat for 15 minutes. |
| 8. | Add the anchovies and pepper and mix just to combine. |
| 9. | Preheat the oven to 200°C. |
| 10. | Scoop heaped tablespoons of the dough onto the prepared baking sheets, spacing each spoonful about 4cm apart. |
| 11. | Sprinkle with flaky sea salt and pepper. |
| 12. | Place in the oven, immediately lower the temperature to 190°C, and bake until puffed and deeply golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through. |
| 13. | Serve warm or at room temperature. |
Excerpted from Le
Sud: Recipes from
Provence-Alpes-Côte
d’Azur by Rebekah
Peppler © 2024.
Published by Chronicle
Books. Photographs
© Joann Pai.