Khachapuri – Georgian Cheese Egg Bread
Don’t you love when an influencer does their job an influence? Dan from ThinkingFood247 posted a picture of KHACHAPURI aka Georgian Cheese Egg Bread and I thought that I needed to have that. Now rather than trekking up to the bakery that he bought it from, I set out to make it at home. Thank you, Dan, my messy kitchen thanks you. Most importantly my belly thanks you.
It’s been a while since I’ve baked or made anything remotely bready. I scoured the interwebs (of course) and found this recipe. Really loved the detail that they went into describing the history of the dish so I thought it would be ace.
While making it I adapted it a little bit. Dangerous, I know when baking, but thankfully it all worked out. Or at least it all worked out. The dough for me was somewhere between pizza and pretzel, which was fine by me. I added some greens (chard) and dill to the recipe because who does not love a cheesy, eggy, chard and dill bread?
It’s important to not overcook the eggs so you can break odd the crust and dip the crust into those beautiful Clarence Court egg yolks.
Khachapuri
For the dough:
1 tsp fast acting yeast
2 tbsp sugar
400g plain flour
375ml milk
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp olive oil
For the filling:
250g Quark
150g Grated Cheddar, 50g reserved
200g Feta cheese, crumbled
200g greens washed and shredded (I used chard in this recipe but spinach works)
4 eggs + 1 for egg wash (I use Clarence Court)
Dill small handful, chopped
Butter
Salt and pepper
Instructions:
You can do this by hand, but if you have a machine, then, by all means, use it.
Heat milk to about 50 degrees C. If you don’t have a thermometer it should be body temp, you should be able to put your finger in the milk and it should be warm like a bath.
In the bowl of a stand mixer combine the yeast, sugar, and flour. Then pour the warm into the bowl of dry ingredients.
Begin kneading the dough with the hook attachment until it’s close to being smooth and elastic. this will take about 5 minutes. Add the oil and salt into the dough and knead for another minute.
Drizzle a little bit of olive oil onto the bottom and sides of a deep bowl. Place the dough inside the bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Set the bowl in a warm place until the dough doubles in size, about 1 hour.
Remove the plastic wrap and punch down the dough the dough a few times with your hands. Cover with plastic wrap once more and let it sit in a warm place for another 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, combine the quark, feta, cheddar, spinach and about ½ the dill in a bowl. Season well with salt and pepper.
Remove the dough from the bowl and place it onto a floured surface. Then cut it into 4 equal pieces. Spread the piece of the dough into an oval about 10 inches long. Then roll the edges to create a wall of dough in the shape of a boat
Transfer the khachapuri onto a baking sheet dusted with polenta or semolina.
Fill each khachapuri with the cheese mixture. Beat 1 egg with a teaspoon of milk, then brush the dough with egg wash.
Bake in a preheated 220 degrees oven for about 15 minutes or until the crust becomes golden brown.
Make a well in the centre of each khachapuri with the back of a spoon (about 3 inches in diameter) and drop 1 egg into each well. Then stick a few small pieces of butter into the cheese. Sprinkle with the remaining grated cheddar.
Return the khachapuri back into the oven and bake for another 5-6 minutes. Cooking time may vary depending on your oven. The egg white should be white but still pretty runny. It will cook further as it sits in the hot cheese.
Sprinkle with the remaining fresh dill. Then enjoy.
