Georgian Cheese Bread

"This came from Gourmet magazine, May 2008. Their blurb: "In the remote mountains of Georgia, the star ingredient of this bread called khachapuri—akin to pizza—is the firm but creamy salted cow's-milk cheese called sulguni. A blend of Havarti and mozzarella will give you a similar velvety texture." Posting for ZWT4, Eastern Europe. Start to finish, this takes 4 hours, 30 minutes active cooking time."
 
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photo by Dreamer in Ontario photo by Dreamer in Ontario
photo by Dreamer in Ontario
Ready In:
4hrs 30mins
Ingredients:
8
Yields:
1 pizza
Serves:
8
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ingredients

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directions

  • Sprinkle yeast over warm water and stir in 1 tablespoon flour. Let stand until creamy, about 5 minutes. (If yeast does not activate, start over with new yeast.).
  • Stir together salt and remaining flour in a large bowl, then stir in egg and yeast mixture to form a dough.
  • Turn out dough onto a well-floured surface and turn to coat with flour, then knead until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. Form into a ball and dust with flour. Let dough rest in a bowl, covered with plastic wrap, punching down with a wet fist every hour, at least 2 hours and up to 3.
  • Preheat oven to 500°F with rack in middle.
  • Turn out dough onto floured pizza pan, turning to coat, then flatten with your fingers into a 7-inch disk.
  • Toss together cheeses and press into a compact 3-inch ball with your hands.
  • Place ball in middle of dough, then gather dough up around ball of cheese, squeezing excess dough into a topknot.
  • Press down on topknot with a damp fist to press cheese out from center. Continue to flatten dough and distribute cheese evenly, pressing outward from center, until dough is an 11-inch disk.
  • Cut a 6-inch X through top of dough to expose cheese.
  • Bake until pale golden, 10 to 12 minutes.
  • Brush surface of dough with butter and bake until golden and cooked through, 3 to 5 minutes more.
  • Serve cut into wedges.
  • Their cook's note: Dough can be made 1 day ahead and chilled in bowl (for a slow rise), covered with plastic wrap. Punch down and bring to room temperature before proceeding with recipe.

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Reviews

  1. This is a favorite dish of all my friends.There is never a dinner party at my house without it. I am Georgian and have tasted and made Khachapuris of every kind. This reciepe is a pretty good one! Thank you for posting it,
     
  2. This was very good. The only problem I had was that i did not have a thermometer to measure the temperature of the water. I think I was pretty accurate, because the bread came out great, and the kids loved it. Was saved in my cookbook for a while, usually play the tag games, but nobody knew who was it, and this was my back up, A GREAT BACK UP> Thanks for the post.
     
  3. This bread was very tasty, expecially the cheese that ran out of the dough while baking and became nice and crispy. It turned out somewhat like a stuffed crust pizza without the toppings. I would have liked to have the bread rise a bit more before baking. Made for ZWT4
     
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RECIPE SUBMITTED BY

A picture of me and my dear friend Liz. I'm on the left. <img src="http://img156.imageshack.us/img156/6127/babesstephof5.jpg"> I live in Blacksburg, Virginia with my husband and 3 young children, and one fat cat. I'm a stay at home Mom of an 8 year old girl, 5 year old boy, and 2 year old girl. They are all stinky rotten but I am terribly attached to them. Plus, they do put up with me. I guess I'll keep them. Dinner preparation can be challenging with my toddler hanging on my leg but I still try to make a really nice meal. I enjoy cooking so much and though I could turn to more convenience foods to help me out, I just don't like to. My food is a source of pride for me. Some of my best memories are of my Mom in the kitchen. So, let the laundry pile up and the dust accumulate because I am spending my time in the kitchen. I live in a close knit community and have an excellent support network of other Moms. There are a lot of good cooks in the bunch so there is a lot of recipe swapping. My MOPS group just sent a cookbook to the printer to make it back by the holidays. I helped with the editing. Blacksburg may be small but the presence of Virginia Tech ensures that we have a constant ebb and flow of folks from all over the place. Small town meets global world. I'm originally from Indiana where I was raised to love basketball but have transitioned over to Hokie football. Sometimes our town IS that football team. Certainly, I love the tailgating and I feel at home among the ever present sea of orange and maroon. I love this place. If I am eating out in Blacksburg, I'm most likely to be seen at Gillies's for breakfast, Cabo Fish Taco for lunch, and the Cellar for dinner. RecipeZaar is the cooking site I visit most. I can almost always find what I am looking for here. The reviews and ratings are so helpful. The folks here seldom let me down. I have accumulated quite a recipe collection from you all. Thank you! I find myself in the natural foods section of the grocery more and more these days. I have been gradually weaning the family off of processed foods. I can't fathom becoming a vegetarian anytime soon so we buy organic beef from a local farmer. It's great stuff and we get it at a good price. I've been cooking with whole grains and fresh produce more often lately. I am trying my hand at making my own mayo and ketchup. I went in with a friend to purchase a grain mill to mill our own grains into flour. I look forward to gaining more experience in bread making. Want to try grain soaking. My favorite cookbooks are my old Fanny Farmer and Good Housekeeping, a 1990 edition of the NY Times cookbook, and an Amish cookbook by Marcia Adams. I still love my sweets. I tell myself that if I make it from scratch and I use more organic and raw ingredients, that it's OK. Not exactly healthy but an improvement. I do find that many of the desserts I used to like are just too sweet for me anymore. This has put me on a quest to update or replace some of the recipes I've had for a long time. Other interests of mine include children's literature, cardmaking, writing, afternoon naps. the art of Charles Harper & Audrey Kawasaki, craftsman houses, and tournament-style Scrabble. Autumn is my favorite season. Few things please me more than the fall's crisp air, leaves dancing around in a cascade of colors, and my glorious friends the pumpkins. The Blue Ridge Mountains are perfect. Plenty of trails locally and in the mountains to do lots of nature walks. <a href="http://photobucket.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w115/bugh8er/food%20and%20swaps/ebe3eeba.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"> <img src="http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b280/carolinamoon21/Ingredients/BBQlSTKR.jpg"> <img src="http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y53/DUCHESS13/Zaar%20World%20Tour%204/ZWTAB-tg.gif"> <img src="http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/susied214/permanent%20collection/PAC08Main.jpg"><img src="http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/susied214/permanent%20collection/adoptedspring08.jpg">
 
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