This mouth-watering Georgian showstopper has become more well known outside the country in recent years thanks to social media. The enriched, buttery bread is cooked into a traditional tapered shape and the centre filled with a mixture of gooey cheese (traditionally sulguni) and topped with a decadent Freshlay Farms Golden Yolker® to finish. We’ve given ours a festive spin with a fragrant garnish of crushed pink peppercorns and chives.
Combine the butter and milk in a saucepan and melt gently
Place the sugar and salt in a bowl and pour the hot milk mixture over the top, stirring to dissolve the sugar
Leave to cool until ‘hand hot’ – meaning you can dip your finger in and it feels warm but not unpleasantly hot
Add the yeast and flour and mix until you have a shaggy dough, then leave to rest for 15 minutes – this will help to strengthen the dough
Transfer the dough to a stand mixer with a dough hook and knead until smooth – around 8 minutes. You can also do this by hand although it will take a little longer
Transfer to a lightly oiled bowl and cover with cling film. Allow the dough to rise at room temperature until roughly doubled in size (don’t worry too much about it being exactly double!)
To make the filling, combine the cheeses and egg yolks in a bowl and mix well
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and divide into four equal portions
Roll each piece of dough out into an oval shape around 10 × 6 inches and transfer to two lined baking sheets
Cover and rest for 15 minutes
Spread a quarter of the cheese filling onto each piece of dough, leaving a 1 inch border
Pull the dough up over the filling to create a crust, twisting the ends to make a boat shape
Cover and allow to rise again for around 20 minutes
Preheat the oven to 190°C
Brush the crusts with egg wash and bake for 15 minutes
Remove from the oven, make an indent in the cheese in each bread. Crack in each egg into the indent. Add a slice of butter to the top of each khachapuri
Return to the oven and bake for 8 more minutes or until the eggs are just set. Alternatively, you can garnish each khachapuri with a single raw egg yolk
Garnish with the pink peppercorns and chives
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