Khachapuri

Adjaruli Khachapuri

Georgia's iconic boat-shaped cheese bread from the Adjara region, served bubbling hot with a runny egg yolk and butter stirred into the molten cheese pool at the table.

Prep

30 min

Cook

25 min

Total

55 min

Serves

4

Difficulty

Medium

Recipe ingredients

• •500 g (1 lb 2 oz) bread flour, plus extra for dusting
• •7 g (2¼ tsp) instant yeast, one standard packet
• •10 g (2 tsp) fine salt
• •10 g (2 tsp) sugar
• •300 ml (1¼ cups) warm whole milk, around 38°C / 100°F
• •60 g (¼ cup) unsalted butter, softened, plus extra for the dough and to serve
• •60 ml (¼ cup) plain whole-milk yogurt, sour milk / matsoni is traditional; yogurt is the closest home substitute
• •500 g (1 lb 2 oz) sulguni cheese, traditional; substitute with a 50/50 mix of low-moisture mozzarella and feta, drained
• •150 g (5¼ oz) imerti cheese, young, mild Georgian cheese; substitute with extra mozzarella or a mild farmer's cheese
• •4 whole large egg yolks, kept whole; whites retained for another use
• •30 g (2 tbsp) cold unsalted butter, for finishing, cubed
• •60 ml (¼ cup) cold water, for adjusting dough if needed

Steps

1. 1 Make the dough: in a large bowl whisk together flour, yeast, salt and sugar. Add warm milk, 30 g of the softened butter and the yogurt and mix to a shaggy dough. Knead on a lightly floured surface for 8-10 minutes until smooth and elastic, adding a little cold water (a teaspoon at a time) only if the dough is very dry. The finished dough should be soft, slightly tacky and pull-clean from the bench.
2. 2 Shape into a ball, place in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with a damp cloth and leave in a warm spot for 1 to 1½ hours, until roughly doubled in size.
3. 3 Meanwhile, prepare the cheese filling. Coarsely grate the sulguni and imerti (or the mozzarella-feta mix). Toss together and, if using mozzarella, squeeze out excess liquid in a clean cloth. The cheese should be moist but not watery, or the boat will leak. Set aside.
4. 4 Divide the dough into 4 equal pieces (about 215 g each). Roll each into a ball, cover and rest 10 minutes.
5. 5 Roll each ball into a round about 25 cm (10 inches) across and 3-4 mm thick. Roll the two opposite edges inward toward the middle to form a long, oval boat with a hollow center and two thick rolled 'gunwales' on the long sides. Pinch the ends to seal and shape into Pointed boat ends, leaving a deep well in the middle. Transfer to parchment-lined trays.
6. 6 Loosely cover the shaped boats and let them proof 20-30 minutes, until slightly puffy.
7. 7 Heat the oven to 240°C (465°F) with a baking stone or heavy tray on the middle rack if you have one. Just before baking, brush the dough, especially the rolled edges, with the remaining 30 g of softened butter.
8. 8 Divide the grated cheese between the boats, mounding it generously into the hollow and pressing it gently so the boats hold their shape. Bake for 12-15 minutes, until the dough is deeply golden and the cheese is fully melted and bubbling.
9. 9 Remove from the oven. Make a well in the center of the melted cheese with the back of a spoon and crack one whole egg into each boat (yolk and white). Return to the oven for 5 to 7 minutes, until the white is fully set, opaque and firm to the touch and the yolk is thickened but still soft in the middle; the whites should read at least 71°C (160°F) on an instant-read thermometer. For a traditional runny yolk, pour the molten cheese and stir before eating, or use pasteurised eggs and keep the bake at 2-3 minutes.
10. 10 Immediately top each khachapuri with a few cubes of cold butter and serve straight from the oven on a wooden board. To eat, tear the crusty edges, dip them into the molten cheese, and stir the yolk and butter into the cheese to create a rich, silky sauce. Eat with your hands while everything is still hot and liquid.