While living in Budapest we had the chance to try various cuisines. We were lucky to live in the city centre, walking distance from endless amount of restaurants. We tried to visit as many different restaurants as possible and expose ourselves to different cuisines.
Obviously there were some exceptions of certain restaurants which we visited more often. One of our favourites was a Georgian restaurant. We visited multiple times and even took our family and friends while visiting us. We always liked to order a variety of dishes to share among us. Our favourites were definitely the Khachapuri, the Hinkali, the Ajapsandali (aubergine stew) and the meat platter served with Georgian bread, couscous, sauces and grilled vegetables.
The Khachapuri, a boat-shaped bread dough filled with a mixture of cheeses, topped with an egg and brushed with garlic butter, was always on order with us. Definitely a treat! 🙂 I do miss it sometimes and wish that it is so easy to go and grab one! However, after some research into how to make them, I settled on the below recipe, which although not the same, similar enough to satisfy the appetite! 🙂
I have also experimented with other fillings. Another favourite was a spicy kidney bean and aubergine stew. It was very different than the cheesy one, but tasty nonetheless. With the stew filling, you have to be careful that it is not too liquid, otherwise you will end up with a burnt top and a soggy bottom.
Contrary to what I thought, it was very easy to make my own khachapuri and they are baked in a couple of minutes in a very hot oven. However, you have to plan ahead if you are making them, in order to prepare the dough and let it rise. If you are making a stew filling, you have to let it cool and make sure that it is not too hot before putting it on the dough.
Khachapuri can be a great alternative to a pizza night and can easily be shared among family and friends. The recipe below is for 4 large khachapuri. However, the dough can easily be split into 6 smaller portions.
The dough in itself is suitable for vegans and it is easy to adjust the filling according to your preference.
Here’s how to make your boat-ful of deliciousness at home… Enjoy! 🙂
Khachapuri- Georgian Bread
A boat-ful of deliciousness
Ingredients
- For the dough:
- 250g plain flour
- 200g wholemeal flour
- 7g active dry yeast
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 10g fine sea salt
- 200g water For the filling:
- 400g ricotta
- 200g goats cheese, grated
- 250g fresh mozzarella, chopped
- Sea salt & pepper, to taste
- 4 small eggs
- 2 tbsp garlic butter, melted
Directions
- For the dough: In a large mixing bowl, combine all the ingredients together and lightly need until no dry patches are visible. Cover with plastic wrap and set it aside for at lease one hour at room temperature or overnight in the refrigerator.
- For the filling: In a bowl, mix all cheeses together and season with salt and pepper.
- Preheat the oven to the highest temperature possible and heat 2 baking sheets. If you have a pizza stone, it is ideal to bake the khachapuri on it.
- Divide the dough into 4 equal pieces. Flour your surface and roll out each piece into a circular shape.
- Divide the filling among the 4 pieces of dough and spread it over leaving at least 1cm from the edge.
- Lightly brush the edges with a little bit of water.
- Bring the sides of the dough together in the middle over the topping and pleat both sides together. Then flatten it and flip the dough over so the seam is at the bottom.
- Using a sharp knife, slash along the length of the dough and push the dough to the side to create a rim and expose the filling.
- Place the khachapuri on the hot baking sheets/pizza stone and bake for 10 minutes or until golden brown on top.
- Crack the eggs inside the rim on each khachapuri and bake for further 3 minutes or until egg white is cooked and yolk is runny.
- Brush the khachapuri with melted garlic butter and serve.
