Adjarian Khachapuri with Adyghe Cheese and Egg

Which cheese to use and how to knead the dough

1. First of all, khachapuri is about the cheese! Not the cheese we usually call cheese, but rather an unsalted farmer’s cheese, preferably made from whole milk. The most authentic cheese is considered to be chkinti-kveli, but I have seen it only once in my life; it is a very young cheese. The cheese should be springy and, as they say, “squeaky”. Even in the Caucasus such cheese is replaced with local ones: suluguni, Adyghe, Imeretian.

   

2. Mix the dry ingredients. Be sure to sift the flour into a deep enamel bowl, otherwise the pies will have hard lumps. This matters not only because various “interesting” things get sifted out: little stones, husks, lumps. It matters for “raising” the yeast dough and saturating it with oxygen. Add 5-6 g of instant dry yeast, 2 tsp sugar (9 g) and 0.5 tsp fine salt (3 g) to the flour. Mix thoroughly with a fork to distribute all the components evenly.

   

3. Knead a soft dough. In a separate small bowl, mix 170-180 ml of slightly warmed milk (35-40°C) and 2 tbsp vegetable oil with a fork. Pour the liquid into the bowl with the flour.

   

   The dough needs to be kneaded quite thoroughly. It should end up smooth and elastic, and should not stick to your hands at all.

   

4. Let the dough rise twice. Roll the dough into a ball and put it in a deep bowl lightly dusted with flour. Cover with a clean cloth towel and place in a warm spot for 45 minutes, until the dough has clearly increased in volume. After three quarters of an hour, knead the dough again, roll it into a ball and leave it for another 45 minutes.

   

How to make the Adyghe cheese filling

1. Make the filling while the dough rises. Mash the young cheese with your hands or a fork. It may be even easier to grate the cheese on a fine grater. Add the remaining milk (70-80 ml) to the cheese and stir until smooth. You should get a thick mass that practically doesn’t flow.

   

How to shape the boats

1. Divide the risen dough. Knead it lightly and divide into 4 equal parts. The size of the pieces of dough determines the size of the future pies. If you like, you can bake them at any size to your taste.

   

2. On a floured table, stretch the pieces of dough by hand into rough rectangles and spread the cheese filling on the dough, leaving a 2 cm border at the edge.

   

3. Shape the boats. Fold the edges of the dough on the short sides by hand and twist them into a rope. Pinch the sides lightly near the ends so that the Adjarian khachapuri look like a boat. Transfer the pies to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper greased with vegetable oil.

   

How to bake khachapuri

1. Put everything into an oven preheated to 200-210°C and bake for 20 minutes. In that time the dough will be fully cooked and slightly browned.

2. Now comes the important moment. Take out the baking sheet and slide a chicken egg yolk onto the cheese filling of each pie. If there is not much filling, you can let some of the white in as well, but the yolk must stay whole. Put a small piece of butter on the filling.

   

3. Put the baking sheet back into the oven for another 5 minutes, so the butter melts and the egg starts to set. But don’t bake the egg until it is hard. The point of khachapuri is a soft, even slightly runny filling, into which you dip pieces of dough broken off from the rim.

   

Serving

1. Serve immediately, while the filling hasn’t set. These pastries are traditionally eaten with tea, cocoa or sweet water. Although, to be honest, it is a wonderful bread for lunch, and I eat them with meat and vegetables, or just on their own.