Greek Grilled Bread –λαδοβρεχτό – Quick, Easy & so Delicious!

I have just made λαδοβρεχτό and am amazed at how delicious this simple traditional Greek grilled bread is.  I can’t believe that, having been to Greece and also being passionate about good food, I have never heard of or eaten this wonderful stuff. I will, however, eat LOADS of it in the future.

The reason I had this, suddenly (as befits a blog called Sudden Lunch!) is that one of my favourite authors, Sara Alexi who writes The Greek Village Series was asking for people to photograph recipes in her new book Greek Village Cooking: The Short and Happy Tale of Pippo Alampo – a love story with recipes!

I have sent her the photos I’ve taken, I hope they are OK. 

How to Make Greek Grilled Bread

It is important to use good thick slices of substantial bread – I used my homemade sourdough.  

The thing that makes this so delicious is that, surprisingly, the bread is grilled dry and then generously brushed with lovely rich green extra virgin olive oil, while it’s piping hot, so that some of the oil is absorbed. As my real man says, “like butter on hot toast”, which makes me wonder why I never thought of “inventing” it anyway!  The bread is then sprinkled with sea salt and dried oregano which is lovely, but now I think I shall try other seasonings too. 

Sara Alexi suggests roasted garlic – which is already a huge favourite of mine so probably try that next. I will also experiment with other herbs and maybe other oils; chilli or garlic infused, for instance.

This is one of those recipes I wish I had been aware of when I was cooking professionally – I’m sure it would have been very popular.  Then I would, of course, have cooked it on a chargrill but at home I am using a ridge pan and it works fine.

Crunchy, salty, juicy, wonderful Greek grilled bread is delicious just as it is – well, maybe with a glass of red wine!

It also goes well with so many things, pretty well anything you might eat with bread, although perhaps go easy with the oregano if serving with something sweet. A little salt is still OK as we have all learned from salted caramel!

~   Sara Alexi suggests diced tomatoes so I tried that and she is absolutely right.

~   I am very prone to hummus so added that and am pretty sure I will always have λαδοβρεχτό with hummus from now on.

~   Try it with Skordalia a kind of garlicky mayonnaise with either bread replacing the egg yolk as in my Skordalia recipe here  or with potato as in Sara’s recipe in Greek Village Cooking: The Short and Happy Tale of Pippo Alampo.  Both are good!

~   I can see no reason why this gorgeous grilled bread should not be joined by some cheese – maybe Feta, maybe something else!

~  It would (in fact will, in our house) be a great accompaniment to soup or to bean dishes such as Gigantes or Creamy Fava (recipes for both of these are in the book).

I urge you to try this simple recipe – I’m sure you will be delighted!

Sara Alexi

If you haven’t heard of Sara Alexi, then it is time you did!  

Sara writes The Greek Village Series of books – and I have read them all!  The first in the series is The Illegal Gardner  which  got me hooked. As the series builds up you get to know all the people who live in the village, their lives and adventures. Every book in the series is snapped up as soon as it is published and several have become best sellers. 

Why I want to be Just Like Sara Alexi when I Grow Up!

I’ll have to hurry – I’m almost 63! Sara not only writes brilliant books but she seems to be great at marketing them too. I receive mostly five star reviews and lots of lovely feedback for my cookbooks when they do sell but I just don’t seem to be getting them out there. Yikes!

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