Chef Dimitra
Arkatena Omodous (Αρκατένα Ομόδους)
Omodos arkatena are Cypriot chickpea-leavened rusks, pale inside and sesame-studded, baked once as little rings and again until they crack clean under the tooth and keep beautifully.
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Attica Clean Monday Lagana (Λαγάνα Αττικής)
Created by
Attica's Clean Monday lagana is lean, sesame-heavy, and deeply dimpled, made to be torn beside taramosalata before the bread goes stale by morning.
Breads
Greek
Holiday
Special Occasion
Comfort Food
25 min
Active Time
22 min cook•2 hr 47 min total
Yield2 large flatbreads
Attica's Clean Monday lagana is the flatbread of Kathara Deftera, the first day of Lent: lean dough, sesame crust, long oval shape, and dimples pressed so deep they almost touch the tray. It isn't everyday bread. It belongs to that one morning when bakeries open before sunrise and people carry warm paper-wrapped loaves home with taramosalata, olives, pickles, and halva.
The whole bread rests on the dimpling. Press lightly and it puffs into a soft loaf, pleasant but wrong. Press firmly, in close rows, and the dough bakes flat with crisp ridges, tender valleys, and sesame caught across the top. That's the method that makes lagana itself.
I make the dough simple and nistisimo, as the fasting table asks: flour, water, yeast, salt, a little oil, and sesame. A spoon of petimezi in the glaze helps the seeds cling and gives a quiet bronze color. Eat it the same day. By morning it stiffens, which is not failure. It's the calendar telling you this bread was meant for Clean Monday, not Tuesday.
Lagana is tied to Kathara Deftera, Clean Monday, the first day of the Orthodox Great Lent, when the table is traditionally nistisimo and free of meat, dairy, and eggs. Its name is often linked to ancient Greek laganon, a flat sheet of dough mentioned in classical sources, though the modern sesame-crusted Clean Monday loaf belongs to the bakery culture of contemporary Greece. In Athens and across Attica, bakeries still prepare it in quantity only for that day, which is why its season is so sharply remembered.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
strong bread flour
Quantity
500g
plus extra for shaping
lukewarm water
Quantity
320ml
dried yeast
Quantity
7g
fine sea salt
Quantity
10g
sugar
Quantity
15g
extra virgin olive oil
Quantity
30ml
sesame seeds
Quantity
40g
grape molasses (petimezi) or honey
Quantity
1 tablespoon
water, for glazing
Quantity
2 tablespoons
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| strong bread flourplus extra for shaping | 500g |
| lukewarm water | 320ml |
| dried yeast | 7g |
| fine sea salt | 10g |
| sugar | 15g |
| extra virgin olive oil | 30ml |
| sesame seeds | 40g |
| grape molasses (petimezi) or honey | 1 tablespoon |
| water, for glazing | 2 tablespoons |
Equipment Needed
- •two heavy baking trays, about 35cm by 25cm
- •pastry brush
- •wire cooling rack
Instructions
- 1
Wake the yeast
Stir the lukewarm water, yeast, and sugar together in a large bowl. Leave it for 10 minutes, until the surface looks creamy and a little foamy. If nothing happens, the yeast is tired. Start again now, not after you've wasted good flour.
- 2
Mix the dough
Add the flour, salt, and olive oil. Mix until no dry flour remains, then knead for 8 to 10 minutes by hand, or 6 minutes in a mixer on low speed. The dough should be soft and slightly tacky, not stiff. Lagana is a flatbread, yes, but it still needs a live, elastic dough.
- 3
Let it rise
Oil the bowl lightly, turn the dough once, cover it, and leave it in a warm place for 1 hour, until roughly doubled. Don't hurry it. Good olive oil, and patience.
- 4
Shape the loaves
Line two baking trays with parchment. Divide the dough in two, set each piece on a floured surface, and press it out gently into an oval about 30cm long and 18cm wide. Keep the thickness even, about 1.5cm. Cover and rest for 25 minutes so the dough relaxes before dimpling.
- 5
Dimple deeply
Mix the petimezi or honey with 2 tablespoons water and brush it over the loaves. Press your fingertips firmly into the dough in rows, nearly to the tray, then scatter sesame generously over the sticky surface. These deep dimples decide the bread: they keep lagana flat, give the oil and sesame places to catch, and stop it puffing like an ordinary loaf.
Press harder than feels polite. Shallow marks vanish in the oven. - 6
Bake until bronzed
Heat the oven to 220C. Bake the laganes for 18 to 22 minutes, swapping trays halfway if needed, until the tops are bronzed, the sesame smells nutty, and the undersides sound hollow when tapped. Cool on a rack for at least 15 minutes, then tear, don't slice, while the crust is still crisp.
Chef Tips
- •Use bread flour if you can. All-purpose flour will make a decent lagana, but the chew will be softer and the dimples less proud.
- •Sesame must be generous. A timid sprinkle looks tidy, but lagana should carry a real sesame crust under your teeth.
- •Serve it with taramosalata, olives, pickled vegetables, fava, and halva. This is the Clean Monday table, and it already knows how to feed a plant-based cook.
Advance Preparation
- •The dough can be mixed the night before with half the yeast, then covered and refrigerated after kneading. Let it come toward room temperature for 45 minutes before shaping.
- •Lagana is best baked the day it is eaten. If there is any left, warm it briefly the next day and use it for dips, not for judging the bread.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 425g)
Calories
1245 calories
Total Fat
28 g
Saturated Fat
4 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
24 g
Cholesterol
0 mg
Sodium
1980 mg
Total Carbohydrates
210 g
Dietary Fiber
10 g
Sugars
16 g
Protein
39 g
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