Khachapuri is a national Georgian dish, easy to prepare and very tasty! The exotic name hides a flatbread containing cheese filling inside. The name “khachapuri” arose as a result of a combination of the words “khacho” - “cottage cheese” and “puri” - “bread”, that is, the name of the dish in literal translation will sound like “curd bread”. Northwestern Georgia is considered the birthplace of cheese pies, and the recipe itself was invented in the Middle Ages.
Khachapuri is prepared in the oven or in a large flat frying pan. Different types of dough are used for flatbreads:
- yeast;
- puff pastry;
- fresh.
The classic recipe involves preparing dough using a Caucasian fermented milk drink called matsoni. You can prepare this drink yourself at home: you need to dilute 2 tablespoons of sour cream in three liters of heated milk, leave at room temperature for a couple of hours, then place in the refrigerator until thickened. In many recipes, chefs suggest using kefir or yogurt instead of matsoni; they also make delicious khachapuri.
Cooking khachapuri is a simple process, but you should know some subtleties:
- It is best to start preparing the filling after the dough has been kneaded - while you are preparing the filling, the dough will rest;
- The dough for flatbreads must be rolled out thin enough so that the khachapuri turns out thin after baking.
Imeretian cheese is traditionally used as a filling; feta cheese, suluguni and other soft or pickled cheeses are also common. Khachapuri is given an arbitrary shape, most often it is:
- circle or oval;
- square;
- triangle;
- envelope.
- A traditional dish contains equal amounts of cheese shavings and bread base, but in the modern world there are a huge number of variations of this delicious pastry, in which these canons have undergone significant changes in the direction of increasing the volume of minced cheese used.
The most interesting recipes that have proven to be excellent are given below.
A simple recipe for khachapuri
Even a novice cook can prepare classic khachapuri with cheese in the oven using this recipe, thanks to the description presented step by step:
Step one: preparing the raw dough. To obtain a fresh, yeast-free base, you will need a large container into which you pour:
- flour – 650 g;
- salt - half a teaspoon;
- sugar – 1 tsp. without slide;
- baking powder – 15 grams.
In the center of the slide of bulk products, you need to make a hole into which a mixture of the following ingredients is poured:
- one raw chicken egg;
- half a liter of kefir;
- two tablespoons of vegetable oil.
Gradually knead the raw dough from the edges to the middle of the container, which should turn out elastic and not tough. Form the raw dough into a ball, wrap in cling film and refrigerate for one hour.
Step two: prepare the filling, for which you can take Suluguni cheese (200 grams) or Adyghe cheese, Imeretian cheese (100 grams) and feta cheese (300 g). All cheeses should be crushed to the state of shavings and mixed together.
Step three: take out the raw cold dough and roll out small flat cakes, in the center of which you should place the cheese mixture; Gather the edges of the future khachapuri together, leaving a gap in the middle. Then carefully, without letting the filling spill out, turn it over and roll it out so that the thickness of the workpiece becomes 1 centimeter.
Step four: bake in a preheated oven until done.
Georgian khachapuri has its own secret - to maintain its softness and prevent the baked goods from becoming stale, you need to grease it with melted butter and then hide it under a cotton towel.
You can also bake khachapuri following the video instructions:
Pies
Cheese pastries baked in the oven are suitable for serving on a holiday table if the product is shaped like a pie. To make the delicacy more fluffy and airy, it is recommended to make the dough with yeast. The calorie content of flour baked goods reaches approximately 292 kcal per 100 g of raw materials.
What ingredients will you need?
Making a cheese pie in the oven should begin by preparing the following food products:
- water – 125 ml;
- yeast – 5 g;
- olive oil – 30 ml;
- flour – 270 ml;
- salt – 19 g;
- Adyghe cheese – 50 g;
- Russian cheese – 50 g;
- egg – 55 g.
Instead of two types of cheese, it is permissible to use one product. This will not greatly affect the taste.
Step-by-step cooking process
The process of making aromatic pastries with cheese is described in the following paragraphs:
- Pour warm water into a deep bowl, add yeast with salt and 108 g of flour, stir everything well and put it in a warm place for about 10 minutes.
- When the mass begins to rise, you need to add most of the flour and olive oil. The components need to be kneaded into a soft base for 7 minutes. Afterwards, you will need to cover the composition with film and take the workpiece to a warm place for about 60 minutes.
- For the filling you need to grind 2 types of cheese on a fine grater.
- Beat an egg with a small amount of water with a fork and combine with grated cheese, adding salt and mixing everything thoroughly.
- The finished dough will need to be divided into 2 parts, rolling out the base for the pie from 1 part to a thickness of up to 5 mm.
- You will need to place the base on parchment paper located on a baking sheet, and place the cheese filling on top in the central part.
- The remaining part of the base must be rolled out into a circle, but of a slightly smaller diameter, and covered with the filler.
- Using tucks, you need to form a decorative edge and make small holes on top of the pie.
- At the end, you will need to coat the semi-finished product with a beaten chicken egg and bake the treat for 30 minutes. at a temperature of 220 °C.
Serving rules, decoration
Pie with cheese must be served hot while the filling has a delicate creamy texture. Warm milk or tea is suitable as an addition.
Khachapuri made from yeast dough
Oven-baked yeast-based flatbreads have a recipe that is easy to follow. You will have to tinker with it longer than with kefir-egg based cakes, but the baked goods turn out very fluffy, soft and tasty. You can judge the appearance of khachapuri from the photo:
In order to prepare a raw base for khachapuri, you will need a number of ingredients:
- milk – 0.1 liters;
- drinking water – 150 milliliters;
- one raw egg;
- one raw yolk – necessary for coating the top of the khachapuri;
- sugar - two level teaspoons;
- dry yeast – 1 sachet;
- salt – 1 tsp. without slide;
- flour – 0.45 kg;
- butter – one tablespoon;
- hard cheese – 0.5 kg.
Step by step procedure:
One: prepare the dough: bring the mixture of milk and water to a warm state, add yeast and granulated sugar, put in a warm place for about half an hour - until a foamy cap forms.
Two: season the dough with a raw egg, salt, melted butter and flour, then knead the dough until it becomes pliable and soft; The finished dough piece must be left alone for 1.5 hours for proofing.
Three: Punch down the risen dough and divide into 4 equal parts. Each part should be rolled out to form a thin cake; Place 1/5 of the total volume of grated cheese in the middle; pinch the edges towards the center; then the workpiece is rolled out with a rolling pin to 1 cm.
Khachapuri from yeast dough is prepared in the oven by placing them on a pre-greased baking sheet and making cuts in the center of each raw flatbread. They are necessary to prevent bubbles during cooking. The remaining grated cheese is used to sprinkle on top of the raw pieces, which are then baked in a preheated oven.
The recipe for khachapuri with cheese, cooked in the oven, can be seen in the video
In order for the yeast dough to turn out with a bang, you need to know several important points:
- the temperature of all components should be the same, so they should be removed from the refrigerator about 60 minutes before starting work to prevent the formation of dough lumps; the flour should be sifted through a sieve;
- if dry yeast is used to prepare yeast dough, then there is no need to make a dough - in this case, you should mix the yeast and flour immediately before cooking;
- if you use hot melted butter, the yeast dough will not work - it will not rise;
- in the case of preparing dough, flour is mixed with eggs, salt and fat, and all other ingredients are sent to the dough and only after that everything is mixed together;
- working with yeast dough requires that it be kneaded well - then it will have uniformity and will not become non-sticky; to enhance the effect, the dough can be left on the table;
- Another important point is proofing - the dough covered with a cloth is placed in a warm place to rise.
Description of preparation:
Dishes of Georgian cuisine are distinguished by their captivating aroma and taste.
One of them is khachapuri. Let's prepare it quickly. First knead the dough and let it rise. Then roll it out into a layer, place the filling of grated cheese and herbs on it and pinch the edges, collecting the filling inside. Carefully roll out the filling and bake in the oven for half an hour at 200 degrees. Cool the finished khachapuri until warm and serve. Bon appetit! Main ingredient: Dough Dish: Baking / Khachapuri Geography of cuisine: Georgian
Lazy khachapuri
Khachapuri can not only be baked in the oven, but also fried in a frying pan. This recipe will be useful for housewives who need to prepare something hearty and tasty in a short time. To bake lazy khachapuri you will need to spend about a quarter of an hour of your time, as well as the following products:
- hard cheese, preferably Adyghe - 200 grams;
- low-fat sour cream or yogurt – 150 ml;
- flour – 100 grams;
- chicken eggs – 2 pcs.
The cooking procedure is as follows:
- grate the cheese (use a medium grater), combine with the last two ingredients and sour cream, add fresh herbs if desired;
- Grease a frying pan with oil and heat it up;
- Place the prepared raw cheese mixture in a frying pan and bake, covered, at medium temperature for as long as needed until the edges appear golden brown, then carefully turn the khachapuri over and bake further until done.
There are many video recipes on the Internet for making lazy khachapuri, one of them can be viewed here
Secrets of making Megrelian khachapuri: soft dough
It is believed that the dough for Megrelian khachapuri should be prepared with matsoni, a fermented milk drink similar to yogurt. But since you can’t buy it in Russia, you can use kefir, fermented baked milk, milk and even liquid sour cream. Don't make the dough too stiff - ideally it should stick a little to your hands, so don't add too much flour, because the cakes should be soft. But the dough should not tear when rolling. To ensure the accuracy of the recipe, many housewives prefer to prepare matsoni themselves, fermenting the milk with sour cream or kefir - for 1.5 liters of milk you will need 1 tbsp. l. kefir Let the matsoni first stand in a warm place for a couple of hours, and then in the refrigerator. When the mass thickens, the product is ready! Khachapuri made from puff pastry - yeast or yeast-free - is very tasty. However, no matter what recipe you take, the dough must lie down for some time and rise - this is necessary not only for the fluffiness of the khachapuri, but also for softness, because during the proofing process, wheat gluten swells and changes its structure, as a result of which the dough becomes very elastic and elastic.
Khachapuri made from puff pastry
Preparing khachapuri from puff pastry in the oven is also not difficult even for inexperienced cooks. To save time, you can use ready-made puff pastry, which can be purchased at the grocery store. The dough can be yeast or not - everyone chooses according to their wishes. The set of ingredients must be presented:
- puff pastry in the amount of 3 layers;
- butter – 60 grams;
- one or more types of cheese with a total weight of 0.55 kg;
- eggs in the amount of 2 pieces.
Cheese pies are prepared as follows:
- All layers are lightly rolled out and cut into squares;
- prepare the filling - grate all the cheeses on a coarse or medium grater and mix the cheese mass with one raw egg and melted butter;
- the well-kneaded cheese filling is laid out in the center of the previously cut square dough pieces;
- pinch the edges of the squares to form envelopes;
- beat one egg and brush it onto the surface of the raw envelopes, paying special attention to the pintuck areas;
- The cakes should be baked at a moderate temperature, which should not exceed 20°C;
- After 20 minutes, after browning, the cheese pies can be taken out.
Many people love Georgia for its incredibly tasty cuisine, the dishes of which are extremely popular in Russia, including the original khachapuri.
How to cook “Khachapuri in the oven”
Mix all the ingredients (except cheeses and herbs) into a dough. This is convenient to do in a bread maker. Leave it to sit well for a while.
Grate the cheeses and mix with chopped herbs.
Roll out the dough into a layer about 0.5 cm thick. Place the filling on it. From this amount of ingredients you will get two cakes; accordingly, also divide the filling into two parts.
Gather the edges of the dough into a knot and pinch.
Turn the tortilla over with the filling seam side down and roll it out carefully. Prick the flatbread with a fork and brush with yolk. Sprinkle a baking tray with flour, lay out the flatbread and bake in the oven for half an hour at 200 degrees. Cool the finished khachapuri until warm and serve.
Georgian cheese pies recipe
To bake traditional Georgian khachapuri you will need matsoni and fresh Imeretian cheese, however, these products are difficult to find outside of Georgia, so they can be replaced:
- matsoni - with kefir or sour cream;
- Replace Imeretian cheese with Adyghe cheese.
Below is a breakdown of how much of each product you need to use.
For the test you will need:
- matsoni ¼ liter;
- butter 100 grams;
- sugar 3 tsp;
- salt in the amount of 1 tsp. without top;
- soda ½ teaspoon;
- flour 0.3 kg.
Cheese filling:
- Imeretian cheese 0.35kg
- sour cream 50 grams;
- butter 25 grams;
- salt as needed.
Cheese pies are prepared in the following order:
- sugar, salt and soda are dissolved in matsoni, after the foam has settled, butter is added (in a melted state), flour is added to the mixture gradually, using a sieve. The dough should be fluffy, soft and almost non-stick to your hands.
- chopped cheese and sour cream are mixed with the addition of soft butter. The last two ingredients are taken in quantities depending on the consistency of the cheese mass - the condition of the filling should be in balance between “too dry” and “too wet”.
- the raw prepared dough is divided into 4 parts, each of which is rolled out using a rolling pin, ¼ of the filling is laid out on top;
- Envelopes are formed from flatbreads with minced cheese, which are turned over with the seam facing the table and re-rolled to a thickness of 1 to 1.5 centimeters.
- The pies are fried in a dry, preheated frying pan, covered, medium heat, until small spots of light brown color form. After they appear, the tortilla is turned over and fried on the other side without a lid.
Cheese pies with ham are another variation of khachapuri.
For three servings you will need:
- yeast-free puff pastry 0.4 kg;
- Suluguni and Imeretian cheeses: 300 and 200 g, respectively;
- one large chicken egg;
- ham 0.1 kg;
- milk - two tablespoons.
To prepare khachapuri with ham you should:
- preheat the oven to 190°C;
- mix coarsely grated cheese with egg white;
- make a mixture of yolk and milk;
- Divide the dough into 3 parts, each of which is then rolled out a little using a rolling pin;
- the edges of each workpiece are greased with a milk-yolk mixture;
- place the cheese and ham on the tortillas and pinch the edges to form a rectangle;
- Bake on a baking sheet until browned, after brushing the top of each pie with a mixture of yolk and milk.
Khachapuri Imeretian style with cheese and herbs
This is one of the types of khachapuri. In Georgian they are called imeruli khachapuri. Easy to prepare and the most convenient to take with you on the road. They are a flatbread with cheese hidden inside.
Traditionally, there should be as much cheese in khachapuri as there is dough. This is why these flatbreads are so popular. Previously, they were cooked in special open ovens, the temperature in which reached 300 degrees. Because of this, their baking was almost instant: 2-3 minutes for one khachapuri. Now they are baked in the oven.
Test components:
- flour - 4-4.5 cups;
- kefir - 150 ml;
- sour cream - 150 ml;
- 1 egg;
- 1 teaspoon of soda (without top);
- 1 teaspoon salt (without top).
Ingredients for filling:
- Imeretian cheese - 350 g;
- any greens - 1 bunch;
- egg - 1 piece.
Preparation:
- The dough for khachapuri must be proofed for at least half an hour (or better yet, several hours), so you need to distribute the time so that there is enough time for proofing. First you need to mix kefir, sour cream and egg in one bowl.
- Dry ingredients (flour, salt, soda) are also thoroughly mixed.
- Gradually add liquid ingredients to the flour.
- Knead the dough first in a bowl and then transfer it to the table. The longer you knead the dough, the softer it will be.
- Now it is covered with cling film or a lid and put into a cool room. During proofing, the dough will become much more elastic.
- For the filling you need to grate the cheese and mix it with chopped herbs and egg. If the cheese was not very salty, then the filling needs to be added. Usually khachapuri is not made with greens, but if you want to experiment, why not? Neither parsley nor cilantro will spoil the taste of the dish.
- When the dough has “rested” enough, it is divided into several parts, depending on the size of the khachapuri they want to bake. Each part needs to be rolled into a bun, from which a flat cake is rolled out (not very thin).
- A ball made from the filling is placed in the center of each flatbread. This will make it easier to pinch the edges.
- They are pinched on top, and then the resulting ball needs to be crushed so that it becomes a flat cake again.
- This must be done carefully, alternately - either with your hands or with a rolling pin.
- The finished khachapuri is placed in the oven for 10-15 minutes, the temperature of which has reached 200 degrees.
Useful tips and tricks
Useful culinary tips will tell you which cheese is best to choose, as well as how to knead the dough so that it is fluffy and tender:
- a pale shade of the cheese indicates that it is too salty or was made from sour milk;
- To make the baked goods more fluffy, it must be kept at room temperature for about 20 minutes before putting it in the oven;
- to give the filler juiciness, it is permissible to add sour cream or other sauce to it at your discretion;
- if you drop a few drops of sunflower oil on your palm and rub it, the dough will not stick to your hands;
- the edges of the cheese used in the recipe should not crumble or be cracked;
- soft varieties of cheese must return to their original shape when mechanically applied to their surface;
- the filling for cheesecakes should be of a thick consistency and at the same time not too dense, so that during baking it can retain its juiciness and softness;
- it is very important to use the required amount of flour when kneading the dough, since if there is too much flour, the product will turn out tough, and if there is not enough, the buns will not hold their shape;
- when using salty varieties of cheese, it is recommended to use salt carefully in the recipe, since you can overdo it and ruin the final dish;
- It is better not to take cheese with a sour or empty smell;
- you should pay attention to the color of the hard cheese used, as it should be yellowish;
- the dough must be prepared from products only at room temperature;
- To make the product tasty, it is recommended to use premium flour;
- To prevent the yeast dough pie from burning, it is recommended to lightly sprinkle the surface of the mold with salt before baking;
- to give the filling the required viscosity, it is recommended to use potato starch or chicken egg;
- if the dough contains butter, it is not advisable to replace it with spread or margarine;
- when using dry yeast, it is recommended to lightly sprinkle it with sugar so that it dissolves faster;
- To make the finished pie more fluffy, it must be kept at room temperature for 20 minutes, after which the product must be sent to the oven;
- If yeast is mixed with salt or fat, it will lose its leavening ability.
Cheese pastries baked in the oven will be a good afternoon snack or breakfast, as they turn out filling and appetizing. By following the recommendations specified in the recipe for any delicacy, you can easily and quickly make buns with cheesecakes, bagels and pies.