Margarita's International Recipes
Khachapuri Cheese Bread
Khachapuri is a simple bread that is fairly fun to make, though it does take several hours. It's also very tasty, though I messed mine up when I placed it in a too-warm oven to rise for the third time. I would definitely make it again, however, and just be more careful. The first two times the dough had risen beautifully.
Traditionally, khachapuri is made with sulguni cheese. As that's not available in the US a mixture of mozarella and havarti makes a good substitute.
Cheese Bread
Ingredients
- 1 package active dry yeast
- 7 Tbsp. warm water
- 1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
- 3/4 tsp. salt
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- 4 oz Havarti cheese, shredded or coarsely grated
- 4 oz mozzarella cheese, shredded or coarsely grated
- 1 tsp. unsalted butter, melted
Instructions
Mix yeast with water and 1 Tbsp. of the flour and wait for it to activate, about 5 minutes.
Mix the rest of the flour with the salt. Add the egg and the yeast mixture and mix well. Knead the dough with your hands or an electric mixer using the bread hook until it's smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. Shape dough into a ball, place in a bowl, cover and set in a warm place to rise for one hour. Remove dough, wet one of your hands, and pound down the dough using your wet first. Return to bowl, recover and let rise for another hour. Repeat once more for a third rising.
Preheat oven to 500°F.
Flour a pizza pan or baking sheet. Place dough on top and flatten with your hand into a 7" disk.
Mix together the two cheeses and shape with your hands into a 3" ball. Place the ball on the center of the dough and wrap with the rest of the dough, letting the extra dough go on top of the ball. Flatten down the ball, using your palms, starting from the top and working to the edges, until it's about 11" wide. Cut a large X in the center of the loaf, though the top dough layer only, exposing the cheese.
Place in the oven and bake for 10'. Bush melted butter on top and bake for an additional 3 to 5 minutes, or until golden.
Adapted from a recipe at epicurious.com
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