Khachapuri with Darra Goldstein
“No feast would be seem proper without the marvelous cheese bread Khachapuri” says author Darra Goldstein in her head note for this recipe. Her book The Georgian feast is a glorious cookbook, one that everyone who truly loves food, should own and read cover to cover, for its rich and vibrant depiction of this fascinating culture. The book features quite a few bread recipes, this being the most basic of all. It yields a delicate crust, a savory cheese filling and is one of the most satisfying recipes i’ve had the pleasure to make. Enjoy!
Serving Size: Serves
Ingredients
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
12 Tbsp. cold unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks), cut in pieces
2 eggs
1/4 cup plain yogurt (such as stonyfield-greek yogurt is too thick)
1 1/4 lbs. mixed muenster and Havarti cheeses, grated coarsely (I tried the recipe with 7.5 oz muenster, 7 oz feta, and remaining with mozzarella and I love the saltiness of the feta)
1 egg yolk, beaten
Instructions
Put the flour an salt in a medium bowl and cut in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. Beat 1 egg and stir into yogurt, then add to the flour mixture. Form into a ball and chill one hour.
Grate the cheeses coarsely, beat the other egg, and stir into cheese. Set aside.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a large baking sheet. On a floured board, roll the dough into a rectangle about 12 X 17 inches. Trim the edges. Spread the cheese mixture on half of the dough and then fold the other half over to enclose it, sealing and crimping the edges.
Transfer the bread to the baking sheet and brush with the beaten egg yolk. Bake for 50 minutes or until browned. The bread is served slightly warm, cut into small squares.
The recipe is excerpted from The Georgian Feast: The vibrant Culture and Savory Food f the Republic go Georgia (University of California Press 2018)
Cook's Notes
I definitely recommend using some feta in the cheese mix (about 1/2 of the allowed amount so 7-8 oz).
I also recommend using a pce of parchment, brushed very lightly with a mild olive oil so that your dough doesn’t stick to the pan.
To keep the butter cold, use a pastry cutter instead of your hands.
I would also chill the assembled bread for about 10-30 minutes before baking.