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This post is a part of 🍞StackSmith's Breadlog
Flat cheesebread is a staple of Georgian snacks or banquet tables. There is also a pastry-like individual square variety, to be tackled later. In the meantime we shall prepare a flat round bread stuffed with cheese.
Which cheese? Traditionally, a mozzarella-like SULUGUNI cheese is shredded and stuffed, forming a stringy melty deliciousness. But like any staple dish, everyone makes it a little differently. My mother makes an elaborate mixture of farmer's cheese, feta, and (yuck) butter. Personally I like saltier stronger cheeses, and this time I used a blend of a soft sheep cheese and Peccorino Romano. I am mostly vegan, but will make exception for sheep cheeses.
The dough - my standard white recipe, 20 minutes in the bread machine. I let it rise for another 20 minutes or so - up to an hour is fine (and more is probably ok if you like your bread a little sour). My 500g of flour recipe makes 4 decently sized hachapuries.
Spoon soft cheese into a small bowl, grind/slice/chop any hard cheeses, and mix with a spoon or a fork. The mixture should not have any hard pieces protruding, as it will puncture the dough.
On a flour-dusted board, split up the dough and squish (or roll) into rounds maybe 6-10 inches. Plop a wallop (an ice-cream scoop) of cheese in the middle, then grab two sides and squish together to close the top. Repeat on remaining sides, making a large round dumpling. Squish any holes closed with your fingers, and gently flatten. Turn it upside down and flatten some more, until you have a disk.
Now roll it very gently with a pin (or a bottle, in a pinch) to flatten it more, flipping occasionally. If you are gentle, the skin is not broken (it will be thin in places), and you have a disk that's pretty flat - maybe 15mm high. If you like butter, rub the top with a stick of (soft) butter.
Poke some holes with a fork, and toss it onto the pizza stone at 450, and bake for maybe 8 minutes or so. You may need to poke some more holes to keep it from bubbling up and buring. I use parchment paper to prevent leaking cheese from destroying the stone.
When the bottom is browned and it looks cooked take it out. I like it when it has burnmarks, as if it was flamed by a wood stove. Let it cool for a few minutes, and cut it into 6 pieces. Enjoy it hot (or cold). It will keep in the fridge if you can control yourself from eating it all. Reheat or eat it cold.
Feel free to improvise - sometimes I like a thinner, drier cheesebread, sometimes I like it fat and gooyey with mozzarella (vegan mozzarella works too), sometimes I mix in feta... If you are feeling confident and adventurous, shape it to form a bowl-like indentation and crack an egg into it - after pre-cooking the crust for a few minutes - for a traditional Georgian breakfast treat.
1 1/8 cup water 2 Tsp yeast 1 Tbsp sugar 500g Organic Whole-Wheat flour 1 Tsp salt Cheese - to your liking
