Smoked Salmon Khachapuri

Ingredients:

16oz Alaska Smoked Sockeye Salmon, skin removed, drained, and flaked

2 whole eggs, cracked and placed into 2 seperate bowls

1 egg yolk

1/4 cup butter, melted

1/4 cup oregano, chopped

1/4 cup mint, chopped, plus more for garnish

1 cup mozzarella, shredded

1 cup feta, crumbled

1 cup havarti cheese, shredded

1-1/2 cups bread flour

1-1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 tablespoon olive oil

1-1/2 teaspoon salt

1-1/4 teaspoon active dry yeast

1-1/2 cups warm water

Procedure:

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the warm water and the active dry yeast and let stand for 5 minutes, or until the surface has a thin layer of foam (active yeast). 

Add in the salt, olive oil, and both flours, then attach the dough hook to your mixer and mix on low speed for about 2 minutes or until the dough begins to come together.

Scrape the sides of the bowl and the dough hook and increase the speed to medium high.

Continue to mix until the dough is slightly moist, smooth, and elastic, about 6 minutes.

Lightly oil a bowl, then if the dough is sticky, oil your hands, remove the dough hook, and form the dough into a ball and place into the bowl.

Turn the ball to cover with oil and then tightly cover the bowl with plastic wrap.  

Allow the dough to rise in a warm place until it has doubled in size, about 1-1/2 to 2 hours, depending on the temperature of the room.

Punch the dough down, then transfer to a lightly floured surface and cut into 2 equal portions.  Form the pieces into balls and transfer to a lightly floured tray.

Cover and allow to rise for at least 30 minutes if using right away.  If making head, skip the second rise and wrap each piece of dough in plastic wrap and freeze for future use.  When ready to use, defrost at room temperature and once fully defrosted, let rise for 30 minutes prior to baking.

Put a pizza stone in the center of the oven, turn on the broiler, and heat for about 30 minutes.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the cheeses, herbs, and melted butter with the egg yolk and set aside.

Reduce the oven heat to 500 or 475 with the convection element on.

Get out a wooden cutting board or a pizza peel, flour it, then add a ball of dough and begin to work it into a 9 x 12 rectangle, about 1/4" thick.  Don't worry about making it look perfect, this is supposed to look rustic.

Spread half the cheese mixture on top evenly, leaving about 1" of a border around the edge.

On the longest side of the rectangle (12" side), tightly roll the dough about a quarter of the way towards the center, then repeat on the opposite end, leaving about 4-5" of space between the two rolls.

Pinch the two narrow ends of the rolls together and twist to make the seal, which makes a boat shape.

Take your cutting board or pizza peel and make sure the khachapuri can slide on it.  If not, add more flour until it slides easily.

Now, with the cutting board or peel, go to the oven and gently slide the khachapuri onto the pizza stone and bake until the crust is brown and the cheese is bubbling, about 12 minutes.

Open the door and while the khachapuri is still on the stone, add half the smoked salmon to the bubbling cheese, then gently pour one of the eggs into the center.

Close the oven and continue cooking until the egg white is set and the yolk is to your desired consistency, our preference is runny, which is about 5 more minutes.

Remove the khachapuri carefully and transfer to a cutting board and garnish with fresh mint leaves.

While the first khachapuri is cooking, repeat the preparation process with the second piece of dough.

Cut and serve hot.