To summarise what Khachapuri is – it is a cheese-filled or cheese-topped bread that originates from Georgia. This is, of course, a very simplified summary as there are many different versions of this dish. We tried a few versions with my wife when we were in Russia, but the one my wife liked the most was the one served at the Armenian Pavilion of VDNKh in Moscow. That Khachapuri was fully closed (compared to a Adjarian one, for example) and quite thin. So I decided to try to make something similar, therefore it is definitely not a traditional recipe. As a matter of fact, I used the same dough as for the Naan but baked it. Also Sulguni cheese is pretty hard to find here, so I went for a mix of Italian cheeses. I also saw some people use feta, so you can just use what cheeses you prefer.

It is important to let the Khachapuri to cool down a little so it remains soft, and mostly so you do not burn yourself with hot melted cheese.

Ingredients for a Khachapuri for 4 people

For the dough:

• 400gr of wheat flour
• 150ml of yogurt
• 125ml of lukewarm water
• 25gr of melted butter
• 1 sachet (or 7g) of yeast
• 2 teaspoons of sugar
• 2 teaspoons of salt
• Half a teaspoon baking powder

For the cheese filling:

• 300gr of low moisture mozzarella
• 125gr of provolone
• 200gr of pecorino
• For the egg wash:
• 1 egg
• A dash of milk

Directions

1. Mix the water, the yeast and 1 teaspoon of sugar, and let the yeast activate for 10 minutes.
2. In a different bowl, combine the flour, salt, baking powder and the remaining teaspoon of sugar.
3. Add the yogurt, butter and the bubbly yeast mixture.
4. Mix until it forms a smooth and soft dough. If it is too wet, add one tablespoon of flour at a time, and if it is too dry, add a tablespoon of water at a time.
5. Knead the dough for 10 minutes, or use the dough hook on low speed if you are using a mixer.
6. Rest the dough in a buttered and covered bowl for 1 hour or until it doubles its size.
7. Grate the cheeses and mix them together.
8. Divide the dough in two, and roll each part into circles of approximately 30cm (or 12-ish inches) of diameter, and place one of them on parchment paper.
9. Mix the egg and the dash of milk to make the egg wash.
10. Preheat your oven at 220°C (or 430°F)
11. Cover one of the dough circles with cheese but leave 1 cm on the border.
12. Brush that 1cm border with the egg wash (so that you can stick the two dough circles more easily together).
13. Cover the first dough circle with the second piece of dough and seal the Khachapuri by pressing a fork on the border.
14. Brush the top dough with the egg wash and poke a few holes to help steam escape.
15. Bake the Khachapuri for 15 minutes or until golden brown.
16. When it is cooked, place it between two kitchen towels for 15 minutes to let it cool down a little. You can also brush it with a bit of melted butter.

Enjoy 😉