Ladenia: Pizza from a Greek Island



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Ladenia is a local taste of Kimolos, a small Greek island in the Aegean Sea; “volcanic, mountainous island with white cliffs and roads is a perfect getaway for those who want some peace and quiet…. The food served on Kimolos is traditional Greek. You’ll find the taverns in Chora or the harbour, and the island’s speciality is a kind of pizza called Ladenia.”Lathenia” (also called Ladenia) is  Greek word for Pizza. Ladenia is like a pizza but without cheese, more like a bread dough topped with fresh tomatoes, onions, and olive oil”(from which it gets its name: “ladi” means “oil” in Greek)”, and baked until the edges are crunchy from the olive oil and the onions caramelized.

The first time I saw this was in Peter’s Blog (Kalofagas). I was instantly drawn to it as it did not have cheese. We like our pizza really light on cheese & sometimes no cheese at all & get all kind of weird looks when we say we do not want cheese in our pizza. Along with  this being a super meal, it had  the awesome fresh tomatoes & lots of olive oil, herbs & black pepper. Now who can resist that? From Peter’s post I was led to Mediterranean Cooking in Alaska, who has another wonderful post on Ladenia. This was just loaded with summer flavors.  I made this as a lazy evening snack; my entire family enjoyed this!

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The recipe has been adapted from both the above mentioned blogs, to which I did some of my own thing with the base, as I was going to make a pizza anyway. The major things here; Olive oil, tomatoes, pepper & oregano are all unchanged.



Ladenia: Pizza from the Greek Island


Ingredients:

  1. 1 cup warm water ( More or less)
  2. 2  teaspoon dry active yeast
  3. 1 tsp. salt
  4. 1/4 cup olive oil
  5. 3 – 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour



For the Topping:

  1. 3 Fresh Tomatoes, Sliced (Use Rip but Firm Tomatoes)
  2. 2 Onions, Sliced
  3. 1/3 cup olive oil
  4. Salt
  5. Freshly ground black pepper
  6. Dried oregano, crushed




Preparation:

In a cup, add your yeast, sugar, and 1/2 cup warm water and allow about 10 minutes to activate; you will see the mix getting foamy & bubbly & it will rise.  Now add your salt and 2 Tablespoon olive oil to the flour & combine.  Add the yeast mixture & rest of the water  & work on a  floured work surface until the dough is pliable and no longer sticks to hands.(might have to knead for about 15 minutes). Here you might need more or less water & flour. The dough should be soft dough, but not sticky.

Spread some olive oil on your round baking pan and sprinkle some fine semolina/corn flour.  (make sure the baking pan has slightly raised sides, as there will be quite some amount of olive oil going on the top & the chances are it might drip down while baking). – since my baking tray with raised sides were smaller in size, i made more than 1 small size pizzas.

Roll out your pizza dough to the size of the pan and allow the dough to rise for about 1-2 hours in a warm spot in the home. I usually put it inside my oven, without heating the oven.

Preheat the oven.

Evenly spread the rest of the olive oil over the pizza dough; Spread the sliced tomatos & onions & the  salt, black pepper and dry oregano. Bake at 375 Degree F on the middle rack of your oven for 45-60 minutes until the edges have just browned; the tomatoes & onions will start to slightly brown.

Serve  as a meal or a snack.


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This is just the kind to be enjoyed at the backyard with family & friends while relaxing with some wine & laughter- may be a Mediterranean holiday. It is delicious, light, summery & loaded with taste & flavor. Sending this BBD#21: Pizza Party, hosted by Zorra


Related Posts:

The Perfect Pizza Margherita

Farinata with Grilled Vegetables

Cheese & Pasta Mini Cups



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