Ladenia: Pizza from a Greek Island
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!
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 cup warm water ( More or less)
- 2 teaspoon dry active yeast
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 3 – 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
For the Topping:
- 3 Fresh Tomatoes, Sliced (Use Rip but Firm Tomatoes)
- 2 Onions, Sliced
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- Salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 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.
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:
Farinata with Grilled Vegetables
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June 29th, 2009 at 5:48 pm
Those are two of my favorite blogs; they really are inspiring. This is a very nice healthy milk free snack.
June 29th, 2009 at 6:08 pm
I love my pizza loaded with cheese..But this looks really light n summery as u said Soma..:)
June 29th, 2009 at 6:29 pm
Delicious and Perfect.Lovely post.Thanks for intriducing a new dish to me.Perfect for the party
June 29th, 2009 at 7:25 pm
I too don’t like cheese … tai eta amar khub bhalo lagche. Khub bhalo hoyeche Soma … ekdom simple flavours.
June 29th, 2009 at 7:33 pm
simple,healthy n yummy
June 29th, 2009 at 7:58 pm
For sure my daughter is goin to be a fan of this..This is her kinda flavour SOma.Looks terribly temtpting even to me .(not a pizza person here)
June 29th, 2009 at 8:11 pm
oooh, this looks scrumptious Soma, surely a must-try. For some reason the tomatoes in my organic store are really expensive right now, need to hit a farmers market this weekend.
June 29th, 2009 at 8:26 pm
i Love such kind of Pizza very much, as I am always cautious about my weight!!
Such kind of pizza is heaven for me!!
Guilt free!!
June 29th, 2009 at 10:34 pm
Lovely looking pizza, and i am sure it tastes great…we too do not like much of cheese on pizza.
This one looks so tempting, i wish i could reach it, thru the screen….if my kid got a glimpse of this, i know it will become a Pizza day today, so better i rush now….lol
June 29th, 2009 at 10:34 pm
hi Soma,
This is a superb example for simplicity at it’s best! damn good!
bright and beautiful and of course guilt free
June 29th, 2009 at 10:50 pm
looks wonderful soma. nice and healthy topping!
June 29th, 2009 at 10:59 pm
umm perfect,.its been so long since i prepared pizza,..:-)
June 30th, 2009 at 1:41 am
I love my pizzas without cheese! This looks heavenly! I love the way you try different cuisines!
June 30th, 2009 at 2:45 am
Awesome! And best part is it’s so simple!
June 30th, 2009 at 3:00 am
another unique recipe from u..looks too good..tempting pics:)
June 30th, 2009 at 3:39 am
I definitely prefer the much more healthier Ladenia than pizza. Yours looks delicious.
June 30th, 2009 at 4:11 am
Lovely looking Pizza! Looks sinful!
June 30th, 2009 at 4:46 am
We like our pizzas easy on the cheese too. Sometimes I top mine with paneer. This version looks and sounds delightful.
June 30th, 2009 at 5:12 am
every post of urs take us to some exotic country and cuisines and this is no exception! Would love to try this ‘lite’ version of pizza
June 30th, 2009 at 5:37 am
I have to try this pizza without cheese! Looks amazing!
June 30th, 2009 at 5:55 am
That pizza looks fantastic! I love the topping and your pictures are beautiful as always.
June 30th, 2009 at 7:59 am
Soma…great find…I love Ladenia and yours looks fabulous! I first saw it on Laurie’s blog and I’m glad you mentioned/linked to her site as well!
Thank you for the link-luv!
June 30th, 2009 at 8:28 am
hmmmm… wish i could taste them!! looks gorgeous.
June 30th, 2009 at 9:14 am
Delicious! The tomatoes with olive oil and oregano sound fantastic. And, it’s lighter than pizza since there’s no cheese. Sounds great.
June 30th, 2009 at 11:19 am
Every post of urs is so unique and I learn something new and different. I hate cheese, especially the melted one. This would be a perfect pizza for me.
Good pics too.
June 30th, 2009 at 1:59 pm
This looks so very perfect !! I am drooling over this picture !
June 30th, 2009 at 2:05 pm
Wow, this pizza looks terrific…the dough and the topping look so yummie! Love the pictures as well.
June 30th, 2009 at 2:15 pm
Such a simple and bright colored pizza! Mouthwatering!
June 30th, 2009 at 5:41 pm
What an absolutely delicious sounding pizza Soma! I love Greeek flavours and it’s simple but healthy so it ticks all my boxes
July 1st, 2009 at 7:51 am
Ladenia…naam o shuni ni…pizaa ta kintu darun
July 1st, 2009 at 9:38 am
That is my kind of pizza! And my idea of a wonderful summer snack dinner.
July 1st, 2009 at 11:00 am
First time in your blog, it was really worth spending time , browsing thro your recipes.Very intersting.will visit again
July 1st, 2009 at 1:21 pm
Excellent info about this Greek pizza – I like a lot the origin of foods.
Crunchy, good looking and easy to make, just perfect
Cheers!
Gera
July 1st, 2009 at 6:47 pm
Wow this pizza looks gorgeous !
July 1st, 2009 at 7:16 pm
Love that simple and delicious-looking pizza, Soma. Glad it has no cheese– I find cheese only takes away from the fresh, delicious, summery flavors that can be so wonderful in a veggie-loaded pizza.
July 1st, 2009 at 8:25 pm
We like our pizza with very less cheese as well. So we mostly order it with easy cheese. I liked this very beautiful and healthy pizza, one that does not make you feel guilty about. In fact, this makes you happy that you have eaten a right pizza.
July 1st, 2009 at 8:38 pm
Thanks everyone! We did enjoy this a lot. For those of who like us, going easy on cheese, this one is definitely for you. Those who like cheese dripping down:-) don’t think you are eating a “pizza without cheese”… just think of it as a wonderful summery bread with toppings.
July 2nd, 2009 at 4:28 am
This looks absolutely delicious!
July 3rd, 2009 at 8:12 am
Looks fantastic, my husband doesn’t like cheese at all. So I have a new recipe for him. Thank you!
July 5th, 2009 at 2:08 pm
Your Ladenia is beautiful! The red tomatoes gave a wonderful look! The post is great for teaching us a little bit more about Greece!
Thanks and congratulations!
July 6th, 2009 at 9:16 am
Oh wow, your gorgeous photos totally showcase how beautiful the tomato and onion topping is against that gorgeous, thick crust! Amazing job, and mouthwatering!
July 6th, 2009 at 9:39 am
I never pall pizza! Always have a new topping to try. That idea is awesome! Sounds really light and yummy!
July 16th, 2009 at 2:11 am
Goobye Insomnia, Hello Sleep…
Ladenia is a local taste of Kimolos a small Greek island in the Aegean Sea; “volcanic mountain [...]…