Kuban cheesecakes
This is neither traditional cheesecakes nor truly Kuban-style – these are Moscow-Armenian khachapuri, introduced to the editorial office by Irina Meglinskaya. The recipe quickly became popular, and now you can even find videos on YouTube of Gayane Breyova, a hostess of Moscow Armenian recipes, preparing this originally Cossack dish.
INGREDIENTS:
- Wheat flour: 400 g
- Butter: 250 g
- Milk: 100 ml
- Garlic: 1 head
- Russian cheese: 500 g
- Chicken eggs: 4
- Salt: 1 teaspoon
INSTRUCTIONS:
- Sift the flour, mix with salt, and rub with cold butter by hand until it reaches the consistency of coarse, uniform sand. If you prefer not to get your hands messy, you can use a mixer with a paddle attachment. The butter should be cold to achieve uniformity without oily lumps, which could harm the dough later when they melt.
- Pour the milk into the butter-flour mixture and knead the dough. The final result should be a slightly shiny ball that does not stick to your hands, the table, or the bowl. If the dough is sticky, add more flour. Place the prepared dough in the refrigerator for half an hour to allow the gluten in the flour to react with the liquid, creating the elastic texture needed for the dough.
- Before baking the pie, remove the dough from the refrigerator, let it sit at room temperature for a bit, roll it out, and lay it in a thin layer on a baking sheet. The thinner the layer, the better the result.
- Grate the cheese coarsely and mix with crushed garlic and eggs. Spread this mixture evenly over the dough. The thicker the layer, the better the result.
- Place the baking sheet in an oven preheated to 180°C (356°F) for twenty to thirty minutes. Cut the finished pie into small rectangular pieces and let them cool. This Cossack version of khachapuri is made with shortcrust pastry and is typically eaten cold. Besides Russian cheese, you can use Poshekhonsky or any other slightly salty, bland cheese from the Soviet pantheon.
