Khachapury Georgian Cheese Bread Recipes

KHACHAPURI ADJARULI (GEORGIAN CHEESE BREAD BOAT)

Steps:

• Make the dough (but if you're using store-bought, proceed to Step 2): In a small saucepan over low, heat 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons/150 milliliters water until hot but not simmering. Turn off heat. In a large bowl, with your hands or a wooden spoon, stir together flour, sugar, yeast and salt. Check the temperature of reserved, warmed water; it should be warm to the touch, between 105 and 110 degrees. Add it to the flour mixture and, with your hands, knead mixture into a smooth dough, about 5 minutes.
• Pour olive oil into a medium bowl. Holding dough with one hand, use it to coat the inside of the bowl with the oil. Set the dough in the bowl, oiled portion facing up. Cover bowl with a damp cloth or plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until it doubled in volume, about 2 hours.
• Heat oven to 450 degrees (or 425, if using a convection oven). Line a half sheet tray with parchment paper; set aside. On a lightly floured surface, stretch and roll dough into a circle, 1/4-inch thick, 10 to 12 inches across. Brush off excess flour, then lay the dough on the sheet tray. Using your fingers, roll, press and pinch two opposite sides of the circle a few inches into the center, building sides up, then press and pinch the narrow ends together to form two points. Continue to pinch and press the sides to create a raised rim and form the dough into an oval boat with an eye-like shape. Let rest in a warm place while you prepare the filling.
• In a medium bowl, combine mozzarella, goat cheese and feta with 3 tablespoons water. Stir with a fork until the mixture is thoroughly blended. Scrape the cheese mixture into the center of the dough boat, spreading it into an even layer.
• Bake khachapuri until the crust begins to brown and the cheese is melted, about 15 minutes. Remove pan from oven, leaving oven on. Brush sides of khachapuri generously with melted butter. Return khachapuri to the oven for an additional 5 minutes until the crust is extra crisp and the cheese just starts to brown around the edges.
• Using a spoon, make a shallow, 2-inch-wide well in the center of the cheese. Add the egg yolk and cold butter (if using), and serve immediately. To serve, hold down one pointed end of the hot khachapuri with a fork; using another fork, quickly stir the egg and butter (if using) into the cheese mixture until it's smooth and stretchy. Rip pieces of the bread boat off to dip in the cheese while it's still hot.

GEORGIAN CHEESE AND EGG BREAD (ADJARULI KHACHAPURI)

Steps:

• For the dough: Lightly oil a medium bowl. Heat the milk with 1/2 cup water in a small saucepan over low heat to between 110 and 115 degrees F. Transfer it to a small bowl and stir in the sugar, then sprinkle over the yeast and let stand until foamy, 5 to 10 minutes. (Cover the bowl if the room or the yeast is cold.)
• Put a pizza stone on the lowest rack in your oven, removing the second rack if there is one. Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F. Cut two 10-by-7-inch pieces of parchment paper.
• Put the flour in a medium bowl and whisk in the salt. Make a well in the center and pour in the yeasty mixture and the oil. Stir with a wooden spoon until the flour is incorporated and the mixture forms a shaggy ball -- it will be soft and sticky. Flour your work surface, scrape the dough onto it and knead until smooth, elastic and still slightly sticky, about 5 minutes. Put the dough in the oiled bowl, turn it to coat with oil and cover the bowl loosely with plastic wrap. Set the bowl in a warm place until doubled in size, 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes.
• For the filling and topping: Work the mozzarella and feta together with a fork in a medium bowl. Make a little well in the center and add 1 egg. Beat the egg a bit with a fork, and mix and mash well to combine with the cheeses.
• Lightly flour your work surface. Turn the dough onto the floured surface and cut it in half. Round the halves gently back into rough rounds. Put 1 piece of parchment paper on your work surface and flour it lightly. Press and use a rolling pin to roll 1 piece of dough into a round 1/8-inch thick and 10-inches across. Slide it onto the paper -- it will hang over the long edges -- and then slide it, paper and all, onto the back of a baking sheet. (Alternatively, use a pizza peel.) Repeat with the other piece of dough, transferring it to the back of a second baking sheet.
• Spoon half of the cheese mixture on the first round, spreading some 1/2-inch from the edge and mounding the rest in the middle (there will be a big mound). Roll the sides up tightly to make a shape like a cheese-filled canoe -- it should be about 10 inches long and 4 inches wide. Pinch the ends together and twist to seal tightly. Repeat with the other piece of dough and remaining cheese. Let rest 10 minutes.
• Slide the khachapuris on their papers onto the pizza stone, leaving a few inches of space between them. Bake, turning them 180 degrees after about 8 minutes, until golden and crisp, about 12 minutes total. Crack 1 egg in each khachapuri and continue to bake until the white is just set around the edges, but some of the white and the yolk are still a bit raw, about 3 minutes. Remove to a serving platter, dot each khachapuri with 1 tablespoon butter and stir the eggs into the hot cheese¿they will continue to cook. Serve immediately, tearing off pieces of bread to scoop up the hot, buttery, eggy, gooey cheese.

KHACHAPURI (GEORGIAN CHEESE-FILLED BREAD)

Steps:

• To make the dough, mix the yeast with the sugar, water, flour, and salt in a bowl. Cover the bowl with clingfilm and either leave in the refrigerator overnight or somewhere in your kitchen for an hour or so until doubled in size.
• For the filling, mix the cheeses with the single egg yolk and use a fork to mash well.
• Preheat the oven to its highest setting and heat a couple of baking sheets-or a pizza stone if you have one.
• Flour your work surface really well. Cover your hands in flour and scrape the dough on to your work surface. Knead it in the flour a little if it's too sticky. Divide the dough into 6 pieces (each piece should be about 100 g (3½ oz). Roll out each piece of dough on a lightly floured work surface into a 18 cm (7-inch) round. Stretch either side of each round to elongate and then pile 100 g (3½ oz) of filling in the centre, leaving a 5 mm (¼ inch) border around the edge. Bring two sides of the dough up to meet in the middle and pinch a seam together to seal, similar to a Cornish pasty. Press down with the flat of your hand to flatten it, then flip it over so the seam is face down. With a sharp knife, make a slash along the middle of the dough and push the sides open to expose the filling. Repeat with the rest of the dough and filling to make 6 khachapuris.
• Slide the khachapuris on to the hot baking trays and bake for 10 minutes until the sides turn golden. Crack an egg into the centre of each, then bake for a further 2-3 minutes. To eat, pinch the dough from one end and use it to dip and mix the runny egg yolk into the filling.

KHACHAPURI (GEORGIAN CHEESE BREAD)

Steps:

• Heat the milk to lukewarm (110 to 115 degrees).
• Place a half cup of lukewarm milk in a small bowl and sprinkle the yeast and a half teaspoon of sugar over the milk. Stir to dissolve. Allow to sit for 10 minutes. Stir in the remaining milk.
• Spoon three cups of the flour into a large bowl and make a well in the center. Add the yeast sponge, the remaining sugar and the butter. Stir with a wooden spoon until it is formed into a firm ball of dough.
• Gather up the dough and scraps in the bowl and turn out onto a floured wooden board. Knead for about 10 minutes, adding more of the remaining flour to the surface as needed to prevent the dough from sticking. When the dough is elastic and no longer sticky, place in a greased bowl, turning the dough to grease it. Cover loosely with a kitchen towel and allow to rise until doubled in bulk in a draft-free place, one to one-and-a-half hours.
• Punch the dough down with your fist and allow it to rise again until double in bulk, about 40 minutes.
• While the dough is rising, prepare the cheeses. Grate the mozzarella coarsely, either in a food processor or with a hand grater. Crumble the goat cheese. Mix with egg, slightly beaten.
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Punch the dough down and roll out on lightly floured surface to a circle about 20 inches in diameter.
• Fold the dough in quarters and place the point of the dough in the center of a nine-inch pan with an inch-and-a-half to two-inch sides. Unfold the dough, letting the excess hang over the sides. Spoon the cheese mixture onto the dough. Pick up the excess dough hanging over the edges and begin to pleat over the cheese. Make sure all pleats go in the same direction. Gather the ends of the dough in the center and twist into a small knob. Allow the dough to rest 10 minutes.
• Brush the top of the dough with melted butter and bake in the center of the oven for about one hour, or until golden. Allow the bread to cool in the pan, on a cake rack, before serving. The bread may be served warm or at room temperature.

KHACHAPURI (GEORGIAN CHEESE BREAD)

Steps:

• Dough: Combine water and yeast in a bowl; let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes. Add flour, salt, and sugar; stir until a ragged dough forms. Transfer to a lightly floured surface; knead with floured hands until smooth, elastic, and tacky but no longer sticky, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a medium bowl brushed with oil, turning dough to evenly coat. Cover with plastic wrap and let stand in a warm, draft-free place until doubled in volume, 1 1/2 to 3 hours; or refrigerate until doubled in volume, at least 12 hours and up to 3 days (return to room temperature before using, 1 to 2 hours.)
• Filling: Preheat oven to 500 degrees, with center rack lined with a pizza stone or baking sheet. Divide dough in half. Place one half of dough on a lightly floured 8-by-13-inch sheet of parchment. Roll into a roughly 7-by-12-inch oval. Stir together feta and mozzarella. Pack half of cheese mixture into center of oval, leaving a 1-inch border. Fold edges of dough over cheese mixture; pinch ends together and twist to create a boat shape. Repeat with remaining half of dough and cheeses.
• In a small bowl, whisk egg white with a fork. Brush over crusts. Slide breads (still on sheets of parchment) onto stone. Bake until cheeses are melted and crusts are well browned, 16 to 20 minutes. Drop 1 egg yolk into center of each bread. Bake until just warmed through, about 1 minute. Using a large flat spatula, remove breads from oven and transfer to a wire rack. Brush crusts with melted butter and divide remaining 2 tablespoons room-temperature butter between fillings; let melt. Sprinkle with flaky salt and pepper. Let cool slightly; serve.