AI-generated image
Tushuri kotori
Sheep's cheese and butter pie
Tushuri kotori: paper-thin Tusheti pie of salty sheep's cheese and butter
GeorgianUp in Tusheti, a roadless high region reached by a single summer track from Kakheti, shepherds' families roll a plain dough almost see-through and wrap it around a filling of salty sheep's cheese and soft butter, then flatten the whole parcel again so the cheese spreads into thin layers. The pie is cooked on a griddle or in a pan and eaten hot with tea when the flocks come down in autumn. A common mistake is rolling too hard over the filling; the dough tears and the butter leaks out. Chef's tip: use a mix of feta-style sheep's cheese and some curd or cottage cheese, which gives the sharp-but-creamy taste of Tush cheese; traditional Tush cheese is set with animal rennet, so look for a vegetarian one.
- Total time
- 70 min
- Difficulty
- medium
- Serves
- 6
Ingredients
For the dough
- 12 ½ oz plain flourplus extra
- ¾ cup warm water
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 tbsp sunflower oil
For the filling
- 9 oz sheep's cheese or fetacrumbled; choose a vegetarian-rennet cheese
- 3 ½ oz cottage cheese or tvorogdrained
- 2 ⅞ oz soft butter
To cook
- 1 oz butterfor the pan and to brush
Shop this recipe on Amazon
Spices & pantry
Fresh ingredients (4)
Links open Amazon in a new tab. As an Amazon Associate, WhatToEat.Today earns from qualifying purchases.
Method
0/7 doneStep 1: Mix 12 ½ oz plain flour and ½ tsp salt, add ¾ cup warm water and 1 tbsp sunflower oil and knead for 6–8 minutes into a smooth, elastic dough. Cover and rest for 30 minutes; the rest makes it stretchy enough to roll thin.
8 minStep 2: Mash 9 oz sheep's cheese or feta with 3 ½ oz cottage cheese or tvorog and 2 ⅞ oz soft butter into a rough paste.
Step 3: Divide dough and filling into 3. Roll one dough ball on a floured surface into a 30 cm circle, as thin as you can.
Step 4: Spread a portion of filling in the middle, leaving a 6 cm border. Fold the edges over the filling like an envelope, then turn the parcel over and roll it gently, from the middle out, into a 25 cm round about 5 mm thick. Common mistake: pressing too hard; roll lightly and patch any tear with a pinch of dough.
Step 5: Heat a large, heavy frying pan over a medium heat and add a knob of ½ oz butter.
Step 6: Cook each pie for 4–5 minutes on each side, until golden with dark freckles and the cheese is bubbling at any small cracks.
10 minStep 7: Brush each hot pie with the rest of ½ oz butter, stack them and cut into wedges. Eat hot.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 450 kcal
- Protein
- 16 g
- Carbs
- 38 g
- Fat
- 26 g
- Fibre
- 1 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does tushuri kotori take?
- About 70 minutes in total: 45 minutes to prepare and 25 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 6 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegetarian?
- Yes. It has no meat or fish.
- What can I use instead of plain flour?
- Self-raising flour, same amount (then leave out the baking powder).
- What can I use instead of sheep's cheese or feta?
- Goat's cheese or ricotta salata, same amount.
Reviews
No reviews yet. Be the first to cook it.
Rate this recipe
Sign in to rate and review this recipe.
You might also like
SalufPuffy flatbread
Saluf is the everyday bread of Yemenite Israelis, slapped onto a hot pan or taboon in Rosh HaAyin and Sha'arayim in Rehovot and eaten with marak temani, hilbe and zhug. It is soft and blistered, thicker than pita and with no pocket, made to tear and dunk. Home cooks often roll it too thin, which gives a cracker; it should be about 1 cm thick so it stays pillowy. Chef's tip: cook it under a lid on a very hot dry pan for the first minute, which traps steam and puffs it the way a taboon does.
Israeli
ChipaCheese bread rings
In Paraguay you hear 'chipa, chipa!' called by vendors with big baskets on buses and street corners, and every family bakes it for Holy Week, when chipa is the food of Good Friday. Cassava starch, a little cornmeal, butter, eggs and a lot of hard cheese are kneaded into a dough scented with aniseed, shaped into rings or small rolls and baked in a hot oven, traditionally a domed clay tatakua. It's chewy, crisp outside and best warm with cocido (toasted yerba tea). Chef's tip: the dough should feel soft and slightly greasy; add milk a spoon at a time, as too much makes the chipa spread flat.
Paraguayan
TashmijabiMashed potatoes with stretchy cheese
Potatoes grow well in the cold valleys of Svaneti, and tashmijabi is how families around Mestia turn them into a feast dish: they are mashed hot, then beaten with handfuls of young sulguni until the purée becomes glossy and stretches from the spoon in long strands. It is served with grilled meat, kubdari or simply with pickles and Svan salt. A common mistake is letting the potatoes cool before adding the cheese; they must be piping hot for the cheese to melt and stretch. Chef's tip: keep the pan on a low heat while you beat, and use a firm wooden spoon. Most sulguni uses animal rennet; choose a vegetarian one or use mozzarella.