Khachapuri is a Georgian cheese-filled bread or pastry. There are many variants of this dish—Adjarian khachapuri, Mingrelian khachapuri, etc. The recipe below is closest to khachapuri penovani (i.e., it’s made from puff pastry dough).
Varying the choice of secondary cheeses used is possible, and can make for interesting variations in flavor and texture. I recommend making the recipe as written first, and then experimenting on subsequent occasions.
Contents
Ingredients
- 1 lb. package frozen puff pastry dough (e.g. like this)
- 16 oz. sulguni cheese
- mozarella can be substituted in a pinch
- 4 oz. other cheeses
- for example, an approximately equal-parts mix of tvorog or farmer cheese (well drained), sharp cheddar, and Havarti
- 1⁄2 to 3⁄4 tsp salt (depending on how salty the cheeses are)
- 1⁄2 tsp garlic powder
- 1⁄2 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp dried parsley flakes
- 1⁄4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 1⁄4 c chopped scallions
- 2 tbsp olive oil (plus more for brushing dough)
- 2 eggs
Instructions
- Thaw frozen puff pastry dough until it’s soft enough to roll out.
- In a large bowl, grate cheeses and toss to mix.
- Add seasonings (salt through pepper) and scallions, and toss to mix.
- Add olive oil, and mix to coat thoroughly.
- Add 1 egg and 1 egg white (reserve yolk) and mix thoroughly.
- Cover with plastic wrap and let chill in fridge while you roll out dough.
- Preheat oven to 400 °F.
- Cut dough into two halves with sharp knife. On a well-floured work surface, roll out each half of dough into a 14″ square.
- Brush dough squares lightly with olive oil, leaving about 3⁄4″ of un-oiled dough at the edges.
- Take filling out of fridge; divide in half.
- Lay out filling on the dough squares, such that half of the dough square is covered (place filling only on the oiled part, i.e. leave the same 3⁄4″ of edge uncovered).
- Fold each dough square in half, so that the empty part is folded over the filling-covered part. (You will now have two pastries, each 14″×7″ in size.)
- Lightly press the edges together; fold them over slightly; then crimp with a fork.
- Place each pastry on a parchment-covered baking sheet.
- Beat reserved egg yolk with a spoonful of warm water. Brush over surface of pastries, so that they are fully coated.
- Using a sharp knife, cut slits into the top surface of the pastries (slits should be ~1″ long, and spaced ~2″ apart).
- Bake on the middle oven rack for 20 minutes.
- Remove khachapuri from oven and remove from baking sheet onto paper-towel-lined cooling racks for 10 minutes. Use paper towels to drain any excess oil from the top surfaces.
- With a sharp knife, cut each pastry into eight squares.
- Serve and eat!
