Lagana Recipe: Traditional Greek Clean Monday Bread with Tahini, Honey & Whole Grain Flour
If you have read our post on Clean Monday and the Orthodox Lenten table you already know that lagana is the one bread that appears only once a year. Baked exclusively on Clean Monday, the first day of the 40-day Orthodox Lenten fast, it is the edible symbol of the day. Flat, wide, dimpled by hand, golden on top, and generously covered in sesame seeds.
At Eumelia we bake all our bread fresh every day, from scratch. Lagana was never going to be an exception. But we didn't simply follow the traditional recipe. We wanted to offer something with deeper flavor, better nutrition, and a closer connection to the wholesome ingredients we believe in — so we made a few deliberate changes. Whole grain flour for more body and fiber. Wholegrain tahini for earthiness and richness. A touch of raw honey for gentle sweetness and to help the dough come alive. And of course, our own Ancient Grove Extra Virgin Olive Oil — pressed from trees between 500 and 2500 years old — because good bread deserves good oil.
The result was better than the original. More complex, more satisfying, and more in the spirit of the day.
Here is how we make it.
Ingredients
Makes one large lagana — serves 6 to 8
300g / 10.5 oz lukewarm water
200g / 7 oz wholegrain flour
300g / 10.5 oz all-purpose flour
2½ teaspoons dry yeast
2 tablespoons wholegrain tahini
1 tablespoon raw honey
1 tablespoon sea salt
2 tablespoons Ancient Grove Eumelia Extra Virgin Olive Oil — plus extra for the pan and brushing
For the top: a generous handful of sesame seeds
Method
Step 1 — Wake the yeast Combine the lukewarm water, honey, and yeast in a large bowl and stir gently. Let it rest for 8 to 10 minutes until it becomes foamy and fragrant. This tells you the yeast is alive and ready. If nothing happens, your water was too hot or the yeast is old — start again.
Step 2 — Bring the dough together Add the wholegrain tahini and olive oil to the yeast mixture and stir to combine. In a separate bowl, mix both flours with the sea salt. Gradually add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients, stirring as you go, until a rough dough forms.
Step 3 — Knead Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 8 to 10 minutes until smooth, elastic, and slightly tacky — not sticky. The wholegrain flour will give it a little more texture than a standard white dough, and that is exactly what you want. If the dough feels too stiff, add a splash of water. If too sticky, a little more flour.
Step 4 — First rise Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with a clean cloth or cling film, and leave in a warm place for 1 to 1.5 hours until it has doubled in size. On Clean Monday in the Peloponnese, we simply leave it near the window — the first warmth of late February does the rest.
Step 5 — Shape the lagana Generously oil a large baking tray with your Eumelia olive oil. Transfer the dough onto the tray and, using your fingertips — never a rolling pin — press and stretch it into a wide, flat oval shape roughly 1.5 to 2 cm thick. The dimples left by your fingers are part of the character of the bread. Do not smooth them out.
Step 6 — Second rise Brush the surface lightly with water, scatter sesame seeds generously across the top, and press them gently so they hold. Cover loosely and let the dough rest for another 20 to 30 minutes.
Step 7 — Bake Preheat your oven to 200°C / 390°F. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until the top is deep golden and the sesame seeds are toasted. The bread should sound hollow when you tap the bottom.
Step 8 — Serve Let it cool for just a few minutes, then tear rather than slice. Serve alongside a generous bowl of olive tapenade, or simply pour some Ancient Grove Extra Virgin Olive Oil into a dish and dip straight in. And if there is any left the next morning — which is not guaranteed — toast a slice and enjoy it with butter and Eumelia marmalade. One of the better breakfasts we know.
A note on the olive oil
The two tablespoons inside the dough make a real difference to the texture — keeping the crumb soft and the crust tender. But the olive oil you use on the pan is what gives the bottom of the lagana that slightly crisp, golden finish that makes it so good. We use our Ancient Grove Extra Virgin Olive Oil for both. Pressed from trees that have been growing in the Peloponnese for up to 2500 years, it has a complexity and depth that a neutral oil simply cannot replicate. You can find it here.
Can I make it ahead? Lagana is best eaten on the day it is baked — ideally still warm. If you have leftovers, wrap them well and toast slices the next morning. They are excellent.
Can I use only wholegrain flour? You can, but the texture will be denser. We found the combination of 200g wholegrain and 300g all-purpose gives the best balance — enough wholesome character without losing the lightness that makes lagana what it is.
Looking for more on the story behind this bread and the Clean Monday tradition? Read our full post on Orthodox Lenten food culture and what makes it so different from veganism.
