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Cooking
Khachapuri – A Georgian Cheese Delight
· 2 servings
Make the starter
Crumble the yeast into warm milk and set it aside in a warm spot to activate. Meanwhile, in a bowl (or the bowl of your stand mixer), combine the flour with salt, then add the egg and melted butter.
Knead a smooth dough
Once the milk and yeast mixture is bubbly on top and starting to rise, pour it into the bowl with the flour mixture. Mix thoroughly until you have a nice smooth dough. Cover with a kitchen towel and let it rise in a warm place for about an hour.
Prepare the cheese
I used Emmental and mozzarella. Since I'm a bit of a lazy cook, I just cut the Emmental into chunks, left the mozzarella whole, and tossed both into the food processor with the blade attachment to chop them up.
Divide the dough
Done. Next, take a piece of cold butter and cut it into small pieces with a knife, then mix it into the cheese before stuffing the dough. Divide the dough into two portions – we'll be baking two flatbreads.
Roll out the dough
Place the first piece of dough on your work surface and leave the second one resting under the towel. Roll the dough into a flat round. You can also flatten it by hand – I used a small rolling pin.
Add the filling
Tip half of the cheese filling into the center of the dough round. Now comes the slightly trickier part. Spread the cheese out a little over the surface, but don't take it all the way to the edges.
Fold in the edges
Fold the edges in all around so the cheese filling is completely covered. You'll end up with a smaller, firmer round, which you can transfer onto the baking tray.
Press it together
Now it's time to use your fingers to press the dough and filling together, reshaping it into a round with the cheese sealed inside. I pressed it by hand, and toward the end I gave it a final pass with the small rolling pin.
Keep the filling sealed in
The filling shouldn't poke out anywhere, so take your time. Ideally, the khachapuri should have an even layer of dough on top and bottom. I baked mine on a pizza pan, which gave me a nice round shape – I really recommend it, it makes a big difference.
Prick the dough
Here's a little trick I came up with on my own. Once the khachapuri is shaped and ready, prick it in a few spots with a fork so it doesn't puff up while baking.
Bake
Brush the khachapuri generously with egg yolk beaten with milk. Then pop it into an oven that's been thoroughly preheated to 250°C. Bake for just ten minutes, until golden. As soon as it comes out of the oven, brush it generously with a piece of butter. Let it rest briefly before serving.