Join us in the kitchen as we explore Chef John's Cheese and Potato Flatbread recipe! In this step-by-step video, he guides you through the process of creating a mouthwatering flatbread with creamy potatoes, savory cheese, and flavorful seasonings. Whether you're a seasoned chef or a beginner in the kitchen, this recipe is easy to follow and promises a satisfying culinary experience.
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00:00 Hello this is Chef John from foodwishes.com with Cheese and Potato Stuffed Flatbread.
00:07 That's right, this easy bread is made without yeast or the use of an oven
00:12 since we're gonna roast it right in the pan. And if you enjoyed our Kachapuri,
00:16 which is a Georgian style cheese stuffed bread, and you love potato, this really
00:22 should be the next thing you make. And the first thing we need for this is some
00:26 cooked potato, which I'm gonna get by roasting some russets. But before these
00:30 go in the oven, we'll give them the old polka polka with the tip of a knife,
00:34 which is gonna help release some steam and moisture as these roast, which is
00:39 gonna make for a fluffier, drier texture. And once those have been poked, we'll go
00:44 ahead and pop those in the center of a 400 degree oven for about an hour or
00:48 until they're very tender, as tested with a knife, which should slide in with no
00:53 effort. And then what we'll do is cover these with a towel and just let them
00:57 cool all the way down to room temp before we scoop those out into a bowl.
01:01 And while those are cooling, we can move on to make this very simple, very fast,
01:06 fun to work with dough. And for that, we'll take some all-purpose flour and
01:11 we'll make a little well in the center with a fork, into which we'll pour some
01:15 milk, as well as a little bit of cold fresh water, followed by a nice big
01:20 pinch of salt. And then we'll take our fork and start stirring this, and we will
01:25 keep stirring until everything eventually comes together to form what
01:28 we call in the business, a shaggy dough. And no, we did not forget the yeast.
01:34 Alright, I'm doing the unleavened version of this bread, but in case you're
01:37 wondering, this will work with a bread dough or a firmer pizza dough. I just
01:42 happen to prefer the simpler, easier version. But anyway, once we've achieved a
01:46 shaggy dough, which looks exactly like it sounds, we will stop and add the last
01:51 ingredient, which is some melted butter. And we'll continue mixing until it all
01:55 comes together. And once we eventually have something that looks like this, we
02:00 can stop stirring with the fork, and we will lightly flour our hand. And we can
02:05 start kneading this right in the bowl. And in a relatively short time, that
02:09 should come together into a ball. And all the flour from the sides should be
02:12 absorbed. And as usual, if it seems super dry, you can add a few more drops of
02:17 water. Or if it seems too wet, add a little bit of flour. But to me, this was
02:21 feeling just about perfect. And once we're happy with it, we can transfer that
02:25 to the work surface. And we'll dust over just a little bit of flour. And then
02:29 we'll give that one final kneading for about a minute, until we end up with a
02:33 smooth, relatively stiff, very slightly elastic ball of dough. And by the way,
02:38 thanks to the butter, and the relatively low hydration, this is a very easy dough
02:43 to work with. So if you're kind of a beginner, this is a perfect one to
02:47 practice with. And that's it. Since we're not using yeast, once our ball of dough
02:52 is formed, it's technically ready to use. But for best results, I think we should
02:57 wrap it, and let it rest for about 15 to 30 minutes. Which is perfect, since while
03:02 that's happening, we can finish our filling. Which will start with one cup of
03:06 cooked potatoes. Which as you saw, I roasted. But if you wanted, you could
03:11 boil yours, and then mash it. Or even use some leftover mashed potatoes. But for me,
03:16 for this, the drier the potato, the better. And I think scooped out baked potatoes
03:21 gives us the best results. But either way, to that we will add some salt, as well as
03:26 some freshly ground black pepper. And then we'll take the fork, and give this a
03:30 little bit of a mash. And how smooth and fine you do this, is going to be up to
03:34 you. But personally, I don't want a perfectly smooth puree. Plus we're also
03:39 going to be mixing and mashing in a few more ingredients. So I'm gonna go ahead
03:43 and stop right here, with it still being a little bit coarse. And I'm gonna add a
03:48 couple optional ingredients. Which would be some freshly sliced green onions, as
03:53 well as some finely diced hot green chilies. And once that's in, we'll move
03:58 on to the non-optional ingredients. Which will be some mozzarella cheese, that I
04:03 diced instead of grated. Just so they're in bigger pieces, which I think is better
04:07 for the texture. Plus I like to add a little bit of sharp cheddar, since the
04:12 cheese they use back in the old country has the texture sort of like a
04:15 mozzarella. But it has a tangier, sharper flavor. So we'll add a little bit of that
04:20 to compensate. And then last but not least, we will crumble in a generous
04:24 amount of feta. Alright, ideally something on the dry, and sort of salty, and kind of
04:30 funky side. And do not, under any circumstances, buy it pre-crumbled. Okay,
04:35 it's just not as good. And for even the world's worst, slowest cheese crumbler,
04:39 that is only gonna take like 30 seconds. Plus afterwards you get to lick it off
04:44 your fingers, which is always a treat. But anyway, once that's been fetted, we'll
04:49 take our fork and mix everything together. And once it's been evenly
04:53 combined, if we want we can kind of mash it a little bit with the fork. Although,
04:57 as I mentioned earlier, I do like to retain a little bit of texture, and
05:00 don't necessarily want this perfectly smooth. And once we feel like that's been
05:04 mixed enough, we can start pressing that down with the back of our fork to form a
05:08 nice compact disc in the bottom of the bowl. Which if we wanted to, we could just
05:12 refrigerate like this until it's ready to stuff our dough. But to make that step a
05:17 little bit easier, what I like to do is transfer that onto a piece of plastic,
05:20 and then gather up the sides and wrap it nice and tightly, so we can give it a
05:25 final shaping with our hands. Since the tighter this is packed, and the more
05:29 uniform the shape is at this point, the easier the final step is gonna be. So
05:35 after wrapping and shaping, we'll go ahead and pop that in the fridge. And
05:38 then we'll take our now rested dough, and we'll transfer that onto a well-
05:42 floured surface. And then using enough flour so it doesn't stick, we will roll
05:47 this out into a circle about 10 inches wide. And as you'll see, I like to flip
05:53 this over and reflour a few times, so that we're sure our dough is not gonna
05:57 stick to the surface. Since if that happens, it makes the wrapping our
06:01 filling step much, much harder. Of course, having said that, don't overdo it, since
06:07 when it comes to doughs, we never want to add more flour than we need. But anyway,
06:11 like I said, we will roll that out until it's about 10 inches wide. And in case
06:16 you're wondering, mine was exactly 10 and a half inches. And I know you're not here
06:20 for the map, but what that means is if we take our filling, which we formed into a
06:25 disc about 5 inches wide, and we place that in the center, that gives us about
06:29 2 and a half inches of extra dough, with which to fold up over the top, sort of
06:34 pleating it just like I'm doing here. Oh, by the way, I have a little bit of water
06:38 nearby, which I'm dipping my fingers into once in a while, because eventually we
06:42 want all this dough sealed together. So as those folds meet in the middle, I'm
06:47 using some moist fingertips to kind of press it together. And if everything goes
06:51 according to plan, once that last piece gets folded up over, we should have
06:55 complete coverage. And then once that's been accomplished, we will dust this side
06:59 generously with flour, and then flip it over, and we'll give it a little bit of
07:04 a press with our hands. Okay, to flatten it out a little bit, and to make sure
07:08 we're maintaining a nice round shape. And then what we'll do after dusting this
07:12 with a little more flour, is grab our rolling pin, and we will gently, but very
07:16 confidently, roll this out until it's about an inch thick. And yes, if you use
07:21 some diced peppers like I did, those may look like they're trying to poke through
07:24 the surface, but they won't. Or at least they shouldn't. And during this process, I
07:29 do like to flip it over, and flour and roll both sides, mostly to make sure that
07:34 bottom sealed, and it's not sticking to the table. But once this is about an inch
07:39 thick, and we're done rolling, we do want to end up with the seams on the bottom,
07:43 since that's the side we're going to place down into the pan first. So we will
07:47 very carefully slide our hand under, and we'll transfer this into a well-buttered,
07:51 nonstick skillet, set over medium heat. And the reason we want to cook this
07:56 relatively gently on medium, is because we're going to need plenty of time for
08:00 that dough to cook through, and for that filling to come up to temperature, and
08:03 our cheese to melt. And if the pan's too hot, the surface might burn before all
08:07 that happens. So we'll start on medium, and adjust from there. And then once
08:12 that's been transferred in, and we're happy with our heat, we will cover that
08:16 and let it cook for five minutes, or until the bottom is a light golden brown.
08:20 And yes, we're allowed to peek. We just want to be a little bit careful. And
08:25 that's it. After about five minutes, we can go ahead and flip that over, which I
08:29 am dreadfully sorry happened out of the frame. Alright, I tossed that up too high
08:33 to see, since I've always found things at zero gravity easier to flip. But anyway,
08:38 we'll flip that just like a big old fat pancake. Or if you're scared, just slide
08:42 it onto a plate, and then place another plate over and invert it, and slide it
08:46 right back into the pan. That also works, it's just not quite as thrilling. In any
08:52 event, we'll cover that back up, and we'll cook the other side for five minutes. At
08:57 which point, we'll uncover and flip it back over. Once again, not in the frame.
09:02 And because the pan was a little bit hotter than when we first put it in, that
09:06 second side is probably going to be a little bit darker, and even more gorgeous.
09:10 I mean, come on, look at that. I want to eat it right now, but we can't. Let's give
09:17 that seam side another couple minutes, just so we're sure everything's cooked.
09:21 And while that's happening, it is traditional to brush over a little more
09:25 butter, because I guess with half a pound of cheese, this is not going to be rich
09:28 enough. But anyway, it is traditional, so I'm gonna do it. And I'm pretty sure you
09:33 will as well. And if we did a good job wrapping this, and we didn't trap a bunch
09:38 of air pockets inside, we should not have any problem with this bursting. But to
09:43 hedge our bets, if we want, we can take the tip of a knife and make a little vent
09:48 hole in the top, which will release any built-up steam. But anyway, whether we
09:53 vent or not, after giving that first side a couple more minutes, we'll go ahead and
09:57 pull that off the heat, and transfer that onto a plate or a cutting board, where we
10:02 will let it cool for about five minutes, while we grab whatever we're gonna serve
10:06 this with. Which for me is gonna be a hot honey, which is simply some honey with
10:11 some chili flakes mixed in. And then I finished up with a few freshly sliced
10:15 green onions. And that's it. Once that's cooled for a few minutes, we can grab a
10:19 pizza wheel and cut this up. Or if we have one, we can use a mezzaluna, which is
10:25 just about the most fun cutting utensil ever invented. And I'm gonna go ahead and
10:29 cut this into six portions. And I know those pieces aren't exactly the same
10:33 size, but neither are my guests. And that's it. I'm gonna grab a piece and
10:39 take a bite, as is, without the honey, so I can taste that pure cheese and potato
10:44 goodness. And that, my friends, is just insanely delicious. Okay, for a cheese and
10:50 potato fanatic like me, it does not get any better than this. And no, I did not
10:54 need to cut this piece in half. I just really wanted to use that mezzaluna
10:58 again. Man, that feels good. But anyway, the combination of that crispy, buttery
11:03 crust, and that soft, cheesy, potatoey filling that we upgraded with those
11:08 green onions and peppers, is pretty much perfection. And then if and when you
11:13 combine it with that sweet heat from that chili infused honey, it takes this
11:17 to a whole other place. Which is definitely a place I love to be, and I
11:21 think you will too. In fact, if we serve this with the honey, I think it turns it
11:26 into the perfect breakfast or brunch item. But having said that, if you're not
11:30 into hot honey, I can think of about ten things off the top of my head that this
11:34 would be perfect dipped into. Oh, and as far as other variations go, there are so
11:39 many other things you can add in. Okay, I've seen this done with mushrooms and
11:44 herbs and different kinds of peppers. So please, as usual, feel free to be creative.
11:48 I mean, you are after all the right rows of how this goes. And speaking of new
11:54 additions to the family, no matter what you put in this, I think this will make a
11:58 fabulous new addition to your family's recipe repertoire. Which is why I really
12:03 do hope you give this a try soon. So please follow the links below for the
12:08 ingredient amounts, a printable written recipe, and much more info as usual.
12:13 And as always, enjoy!
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