Piled high with cheese and oven-baked to glorious perfection, Khachapuri is the Georgian cheese bread you need in your life. So what exactly is Khachapuri? And how can you make it at home? Let’s dive in.

The name khacapuri comes from two Georgian words- "khach’o" means curds, and "p’uri" is bread. There are several regional varieties of khachapuri but the most well-known is the Adjaruli khachapuri from the coastal Adjara region along the Black Sea. Hearkening to the area’s seaside locale, the bread is shaped into a boat before it’s filled with cheese and baked to melty, gooey, deliciousness.

Traditionally, Adjaruli khachapuri uses aged, soft Georgian cheeses like სულგუნი (sulguni) or იმერული (imeruli) for creaminess and a hint of tangy sharpness. Since sulguni and imeruli can be tough to source here in the U.S. we substituted a combination of low-moisture mozzarella and ricotta or cottage cheese for melty goodness, plus some feta for the sharp kick. We also cut the prep time down by using a ready-made pizza dough for the bread base. After baking, the entire thing gets topped off with an egg yolk and a knob of butter. Adjaruli Khachapuri is fantastic on its own but you can also experiment with post-bake toppings like arugula, microgreens, chopped herbs, a drizzle of chili crisp, or anything you can dream up!

Adjaruli Khachapuri Recipe

Yields: 4 breads

Ingredients

Bread:

• 2 packages pizza dough for 4 khachapuri, each about 200g of dough. 
• Egg wash: 1 large egg white beaten with 1 teaspoon cream or water
•  

Filling:

• 2 1/2 cups low-moisture mozzarella cheese, shredded 
• 1  cup ricotta or cottage cheese, drained
• 1  cup crumbled feta cheese
• 1/2 teaspoon table salt
• 1/2 to 1 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper

Garnish:

• 4 large egg yolks, cold from the refrigerator (use the leftover egg whites in your egg wash)
• 4 teaspoons butter

Instructions 

1. Preheat the oven to 475°F. If you have a pizza stone, preheat the stone also.
2. Combine the mozzarella, ricotta or cottage cheese, and feta in a bowl and set aside.
3. Working on lightly floured parchment paper, divide each ball of dough into two pieces (that’s four pieces total) and use your hands to stretch and flatten each piece into a 10” round. 
4. Spread ¼ cup of the cheese mixture over each round, leaving a 1⁄2-inch border on the edges. 
5. For each round. roll the dough from two opposite sides toward the center. Stop a few inches before you reach the center so there’s room for the filling to stay uncovered. This is the start of the boat shape. Pinch the short sides (the top and bottom of the rolls) together and twist to complete the boat. Repeat this process for each round.
6. Once your boats are shaped, equally divide the remaining cheese mixture among the bread boats and pat it down gently. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
7. Brush the egg wash all around the edges of the dough boats.
8. Place the khachapuri one at a time into the oven. Leave a few inches between each khachapuri so they can expand. 
9. Bake 14–16 minutes until the dough is lightly brown and the cheese is melted and bubbly and beginning to brown on top.
10. Remove from the oven. Using a spoon, carefully make a small well in the cheese filling of each khachapuri. Gently place an egg yolk into the well. The residual heat of the cheese filling will begin to cook the yolk, but it should remain runny after serving.
11. Place the butter on top of the bread close to the egg yolk.
12. Serve immediately while still hot.