Khachapuri with Artichokes

When I was back east in October, I found out that Writer Smurf orders from one of those boxed meals companies a few dinners per week.  It does save time grocery shopping and ensures you don't have leftover ingredients, but it also runs $10 per serving.  If your family tends to not finish everything in the fridge before it spoils, this may be a bargain.  Since I almost never have to throw away an unused ingredient, it feels like a lot.

One of the meals in that week's box was khachapuri with butternut squash.  It was way healthier than the recipe I had bookmarked from the now-defunct The Chew to try someday.  It did inspire me to add some of the marinated artichoke hearts I have in the freezer.

So what is khachapuri?  It's a kind of pizza/cheese bread from the nation of Georgia.  I rarely make Russian food, but my heritage is largely from Eastern Europe.  I hope that keeps my arteries from clogging after this.  I gained two pounds in a week figuring out the portion size for this recipe.

This really does feel like an elaborate pizza.  You're also going to learn how to make a stuffed crust.  The difference is that you twist two ends to make it into a kind of cheese boat, then drop an egg into the molten cheese as soon as it comes out of the oven, so the heat of the cheese cooks it.  I'm skipping the butter in the original recipe because of the oil in the artichokes.

The recipe says it serves two, but that's about two cups of cheese per boat and a whole lot of dough.  I'm making four smaller boats and a side salad, which you can see from the photo still takes up most of a dinner plate.  I'm also using part whole wheat flour for the fiber.  It's still a lot of cheese.

1-1/2 C-ish flour (half whole wheat is ok)
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp yeast
1 tsp sugar
1 Tb oil
*1/3 C milk
1/3 C water
3 C shredded mozzarella
1-1/4 C (roughly one package) crumbled feta
1/4 C grated parmesan
1/2 tsp paprika
*1 C marinated artichoke quarters, drained
4 eggs

1.  You can cheat by using frozen pizza dough for one large pizza.  If not, warm milk, water, sugar, and oil to 100º.  Stir in yeast and let sit until foamy, about 5 minutes.

2.  In mixer with the paddle, add 2/3 C flour.  Pour in liquid ingredients and beat into a thick batter, about 2 minutes.  Add 2/3 C flour and the salt and beat again into a dough.  Turn out onto a floured surface and knead until smooth, about 5 minutes.  Try not to work in too much flour because you will be rolling it out later on top of more dusting flour.  Form into a ball and place in a greased bowl, turning to coat all sides.  Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.

3.  Punch down dough and let rest on the board for 10 minutes while you make the filling.  In a bowl, combine three cheeses and paprika.

4.  Divide dough into 4 pieces and dust two baking sheets with flour or line with a silpat.  Roll each piece into an oval, then transfer two ovals to each sheet.

5.  Spoon about half a cup of cheese onto each oval.  Pull cheese to the edges and roll the edges over to encase the cheese.  Once you have made a ring of stuffed crust, twist the two long ends to force the rest of the piece into a deeper boat shape.

6.  Divide remaining cheese evenly between the four boats.  Top with 1/4 C artichoke per boat.  Set in a warm place to rise while you preheat the oven to 425º.  The amount of time doesn't matter; you're just resting the dough into its shape in case it needs a few more pinches.  My oven takes about 10 minutes to get to 425º.

7.  Bake for 15-18 minutes, until bread is done and cheese is toasty.  While it's baking, crack eggs into four individual cups.

8.  As soon as khachapuris are done, plate and serve with an egg cup for each.  The diner should take a fork and pull aside some of the cheese in the middle, pour in the egg, and stir it into the cheese so it can cook halfway, but still retain its gooeyness.  If you're squeamish about undercooked eggs or cannot have them for medical reasons, you can fry or make them over-medium and set the cooked egg on top.  The nutrition stays the same, but the experience is a bit different.

Difficulty rating :-0