Lagana is a Greek flatbread that is oval shaped with the idents on the surface made by pressing fingertips on the dough.
Lagana is a bread that is usually made for Clean Monday - the first day of Lent. Traditionally the bread was unleavened, but nowadays its more common to see the use of yeast. Its origins aren't exactly clear, but there are mentions of a similar flatbread called 'laganon' in a 5th century BC poem by Aristophanes.
Ingredients
500g hard flour
350ml water, at room temperature
10g yeast
1 pinch granulated sugar
10 g salt
2 tablespoon(s) olive oil
For coating
2 tablespoon(s) water, at room temperature
1 teaspoon(s) granulated sugar
Sesame seeds
Instructions
Preheat oven to 220C (446F).
Combine the water, yeast and sugar in a mixer’s bowl.
Set it aside for 15-20 minutes so the yeast can activate.
Add the flour, salt and olive oil.
Place bowl on mixing stand and beat for 5-10 minutes using the hook attachment. Begin by beating on low speed and gradually turn up the speed.
The more you beat the hard flour, the more soft and elastic your dough will become. If you don’t have a mixer, knead by hand for at least 10 minutes.
When ready, remove dough from mixer and transfer to a bowl. Dust your hands with some flour so that the dough won’t stick to them.
Cover bowl with plastic wrap and set aside for 1-2 hours, until it doubles in size.
Punch down the dough and divide it in to 2 equal halves.
Lay out a sheet of parchment paper on to a working surface.
Add your dough, dust with some flour and roll out. If it is too difficult to roll out, dust with some more flour.
Roll out to any size or shape you like.
Transfer to a baking pan along with the parchment. Simply lift the edges of the parchment and transfer.
Repeat the exact same process for the other half of the dough.
To make the coating, combine the water and sugar in a small bowl. Stir until the sugar dissolves completely.
Brush coating over both flatbreads and sprinkle with a generous amount of sesame seeds over the top.
Set them aside for 20 minutes, so they can rise again.
When they have risen, use your index finger to make indentations all over the dough. This gives the “lagana” its characteristic appearance.
Drizzle with some extra virgin olive oil.
Bake for 15-18 minutes. Make sure your oven is properly preheated so that the flatbread can turn out as crunchy as possible.
When golden and crunchy, remove from oven and serve it in the traditional Greek manner… with Taramosalata (Fish Roe Dip), Potato Garlic Mash and Kalamata olives!
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