Georgia · 45 min · Vegetarian · Starter · For beginners
Soko Ketsze Sulgunit
In German: Pilze auf dem Ketsi mit Sulguni · In English: mushrooms baked on ketsi with sulguni
For 4 servings · US units
Mushroom caps with butter and melted sulguni, hot from the clay pan
The ketsi, the shallow Georgian clay pan, goes into the oven with the dish and comes straight to the table with it: mushroom caps that soften in butter, then bake under a blanket of sulguni until golden. It's served as a starter, while the cheese still pulls into strings. It opens a supra just as happily as it starts an ordinary weeknight meal.
Ingredients
- 1½ lbmushrooms (large button mushrooms)caps only, stems twisted out
- 4¼ ozbuttercubed, part for greasing the dish
- 7 ozcoarsely grated or in pieces; substitute another good melting cheeseA 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
- saltto taste
- black pepperfreshly ground
- 2 clovesgarlicfinely minced, scattered over the cheese (optional)
- scattered before serving (optional)The fresh leaves of the coriander plant, with a strong, citrusy and pungent aroma.Substitute: There is no real substitute, because its distinctive aroma cannot be reproduced. Flat-leaf parsley adds the fresh green note, but tastes noticeably milder and different.Read more
Method
- Preheat oven and ketsiHeat the oven to 180–430 °F and let the ketsi or an ovenproof dish heat up along with it; alternatively, butter the cold dish before you start.
- Clean and hollow the mushroomsClean the mushrooms, either wiping them with a damp cloth or washing them, and twist out the stems so only the caps are left; trim the edges of the caps if needed and widen the hollow a little so there's room for plenty of cheese later.
- Arrange and season the capsGrease the dish with butter and set the caps in it hollow side up, packed closely together, then season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
- Pre-bake with butterPut a cube of butter in each cap and bake the mushrooms uncovered until they release their juices and have shrunk slightly.
- Fill the caps with sulguniTake the dish out of the oven and fill the caps generously with the sulguni, coarsely grated or in pieces, pressing it down lightly; scatter over the finely minced garlic if you like.
- Bake until golden and bubblingReturn everything to the oven and bake until the cheese has melted, is bubbling and turning golden brown.
- Serve hot with herbsBring the ketsi to the table straight away, piping hot, and scatter over the coriander, here cilantro or flat-leaf parsley, if you like.
Tips and variations
You can also add the cheese right at the start along with the butter and bake everything in one go, which saves you the second round in the oven. Kama mushrooms (parasol mushrooms) work well in place of button mushrooms. For a more rustic result, skip the grating and tuck a solid piece of sulguni into each cap. If your dish is too small, start the mushrooms in two layers and rearrange them in a single layer once they've shrunk. Serve soko ketsze sulgunit straight from the ketsi, while the cheese is still stringy.
Allergens
Contains: 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.
