Georgia · 50 min · Vegetarian · Baking · For beginners
Penovani Khachapuri
In German: Penovani Chatschapuri
For 6 servings · US units
Flaky puff pastry parcels filled with sulguni and Imeretian cheese
Penovani is the puff pastry version of khachapuri, Georgia's beloved cheese bread — golden and shatteringly flaky outside, filled with tangy sulguni and mild Imeretian cheese within. The dough is traditionally folded like an envelope and cut into squares or diamonds. Eat them hot, straight from the oven while the layers still crackle; they're easy enough for any weeknight.
Ingredients
- 1⅛ lbpuff pastryfrozen, fully thawed
- 8¾ ozcoarsely gratedA Georgian brined cheese made from cow's or buffalo milk, scalded and kneaded like mozzarella, sliceable, salty and mildly sour.Substitute: The usual stand-in is roughly two parts low-moisture mozzarella to one part feta or another brined cheese: the mozzarella provides the melt and stretch, the feta the salt and tang. The blend does not fully match sulguni, being softer and less fibrous, and feta on its own would crumble rather than melt. For smoked sulguni, part of the mix can be replaced with smoked scamorza.Read more
- 8¾ ozsubstitute low-moisture mozzarella with some fetaA young Georgian brined cheese made from cow's milk, soft, slightly crumbly and mildly tangy and salty.Substitute: A well-tested mix is roughly two parts mozzarella to one part feta: the mozzarella provides the melt, the feta the salt and tang. The result is stringier and somewhat saltier than the original; for a milder version, replace part of the feta with drained cottage cheese or farmer's cheese.Read more
- 1eggmixed into the cheese filling
- 1egg yolkwhole egg or yolk only, beaten
- 1 tbspwheat flourfor dusting or to bind the filling
- ½ ozbuttermelted, brushed on after baking (optional)
- saltonly needed with mild substitute cheese (optional)
Method
- Thaw pastry and preheat ovenLet the frozen puff pastry thaw completely so it will roll out thinly later, and preheat the oven to 390 °F (400 °F).
- Grate and mix the cheesesCoarsely grate the sulguni, crumble or grate the Imeretian cheese, and mix them together in a bowl; if you're using low-moisture mozzarella with a little feta, taste and add a pinch of salt.
- Bind the fillingStir the egg into the cheese, along with a little wheat flour if needed, until you have an even filling that holds together.
- Roll out and cut the pastryRoll the pastry out thinly on a lightly floured surface into a rectangle, trim the edges straight, and cut it into six squares.
- Fill the squaresSpoon the cheese filling into the centre of each square, leaving a clear border all the way around.
- Fold into envelopesFold the four corners of the pastry in toward the middle to form an envelope and press the seams firmly together.
- Arrange on tray and egg-washLine a baking sheet with parchment, set the parcels on it, and brush the tops with the beaten egg.
- Bake until goldenBake in the preheated oven for 20–25 minutes, until puffed and golden brown.
- Butter and serve warmBrush the hot parcels with melted butter if you like, let them rest briefly, and serve warm.
Tips and variations
Instead of six separate squares you can shape one large envelope-folded loaf, or go with the two-sheet method: spread the filling between two sheets of pastry, seal the edges well and prick the top several times. For a sharper flavour, use sulguni alone as the filling; yeasted puff pastry in place of the yeast-free kind gives a slightly lighter result. You don't have to seal every edge either — pinching the four points together in the centre is enough. Serve penovani straight from the oven, freshly brushed with butter, while the cheese is still stretchy.
Allergens
Contains: Eggs, Cereals containing gluten, Milk (including lactose)
These notes follow from this recipe's ingredient list. Ready-made products and brands may contain further allergens — please check the packaging yourself.
Something not right?
This recipe was put together from independent sources and checked before publishing. Even so, a mistake can slip through — an amount that does not add up, a step that does not work as written. If you spot something, write to us: we will look into it and put it right.
