Yesterday (December 17th) was St Barbara, a very important celebration in Georgia. Lobiani is the staple dish.

What is lobiani? It is a pie filled with beans. (I loved it when I tried it in Tbilisi.)
Marcel had the idea to make our version at home, so here's the recipe—

For the dough (makes 2):

80ml water

2g fresh yeast

1 teaspoon of sugar

125g flour

2g salt

Let the yeast and the sugar sit in the water for 5 minutes. Add the flour and the salt. Knead. Let the dough rise for 1 hour.

For the filling (makes 2):

250g boiled beans

4 garlic cloves

salt

Mash the beans and garlic cloves. Add the salt.

Method:

Split the dough in two equal parts. Roll each half out. Spread the beans and garlic mixture over each of them. Make a crescent moon by sticking the ends of the dough. Bake in a pan on low heat until brown. Munch.

It was delicious and filling!

• Spring version

Dough:

200g flour

5g fresh yeast

100ml buttermilk

salt

Filling:

2 orach bunches

salt

butter

1 green garlic

+1 small egg

Variant: Add ewe cheese on top of the filling if you wish.

• Fall version

Dough:

240g flour

5g fresh yeast

160g sour cream

salt

Filling:

300g orach

salt

butter

1 pestled garlic clove

+2 tbsp of milk

Baking pan: 20x20 cm

Orach was the ingredient of this year for me! I fell in love! I felt lucky to be able to bake this orach pie in spring and fall!

The recipes are almost similar. To make the dough, mix the yeast with the buttermilk or the sour cream, adding the required amount of flour. You’ll get a non-sticky dough, slightly hard. Let it rise for 1 hour. 

Then (a kind man named Marcel helped me), wash the orach leaves. Be careful, that pink liquid stains (I used red orach). Let the orach leaves simmer in butter; add the salt, the green garlic or the garlic clove, depending on the season.

Roll out half of the dough in a buttered and floured baking pan. Add the filling and the ewe cheese if you wish. Then, add the other half of the rolled-out dough and stick the two pieces together.

Brush the egg or milk on top of the pie, then bake it in the preheated oven at 180°C for 20 minutes. 

You may wonder what Vegmezan is. If you click this link and then this one, you will understand that I wanted to come up with a savoury recipe from the vegan goodies wholeheartedly made by NoMoMoo*!

Well, Vegmezan is a cashew parmesan.

I used white spelt (whole spelt is trickier to use for bakes; with white spelt, you’ll get a fluffier dough) because I felt they’d complement each other!

Which were all the ingredients?

Well, I used—

250g white spelt flour

5g yeast

3g sea salt

1 tbsp of olive oil

160ml water

+olive oil

+white spelt flour

+(optional) 4-5 tbsp of tomato juice

+1 large tomato

+1 pc Vegmezan

My method?

Add the first 5 ingredients into a bowl in the specified order. Start kneading. When the dough feels compact and not sticky, let it sit for 1 hour.

Brush olive oil on a pizza baking pan, flour it, and spread the dough.

If you wish, pour homemade tomato juice (with basil) onto the dough; it is optional.

Place the tomato slices onto the pizza dough, then bake for 10 minutes at 220°C.

Sprinkle Vegmezan over the pizza after removing it from the oven.

My Dad was visiting; he was thrilled. He confessed that he didn’t even notice that the pizza was vegan.

*I’ll return in October with new vegan recipes that include other NoMoMoo goodies. Until then, already-tested but unpublished recipes will keep you company, along with the new recipes discovered throughout the detox that we’re undergoing again.

Makes 35-40

I used to bake these snacks pretty often (Marcel was a big fan). Then, I stopped. On New Year’s Eve, I baked them again. Several weeks later, I baked them again.

They’re lovely!

We will use this recipe for the dough. Consequently, you’ll need—

250g flour (+100g flour depending on the type of flour used)

10g fresh yeast or 5g dry yeast

250 ml water

some sugar

some salt

+1 l water & 2 tbsp of baking soda

+15g butter & salt

We will make the dough based on the above recipe. After it rises, cut the dough into 4 equal pieces. Shape each piece of dough into a cylinder. Cut each cylinder into 8-10 pieces, 2-3 cm in width.

Meanwhile, pour the water into a deep pan, on low heat, and let the sodium bicarbonate dissolve. When the water starts boiling, take the small pieces of dough (3-4 at a time) and put them into the water. Turn them on the opposite side after they rise (for no more than 30 seconds on each side).

Then, place them in a large baking pan, lined with baking parchment. Continue with the remaining pieces of dough. When you’re done, sprinkle some salt on the small pieces of dough and leave them in the preheated oven, at 250⁰C, for 10-12 minutes.

While they’re baking, melt the butter. After removing the baking pan from the oven, butter each snack using a pastry brush.

Let them cool and... start eating them. You won’t be able to stop anyway!

Here is another cozonac recipe. The recipe of the dough is the same as in the case of the plain and walnut cozonac – and you can find it here. The only difference is the filling.

For 1 poppy seed cozonac you will need:

175g poppy seeds (ground)

70ml milk

40g sugar

Mix all the ingredients in a pan, on medium heat, and then spread half of the filling on each of the sheets. Work carefully and fast, the dough will become soggier.

The poppy seed cozonac is my favourite right after the plain one; it's the perfect reminder of the Easters I used to spend with my grandparents in Bod, year after year.

Happy Easter to all of you celebrating! ♥

For 3 large pizzas, you will need:

420g flour

250ml water

1g fresh yeast

10g salt

+olive oil

+semolina

+tomato purée

+3 mozzarella balls

+fresh basil

To start, mix the water and 220g of flour for 2 minutes. Let the mixture sit for 30 minutes, at room temperature. This will be the base of our pizza.

Half an hour later, add the yeast and knead well, by slowly adding the remaining flour. When the flour is absorbed (in order not to deactivate the yeast), add the salt. Continue to knead. When the dough feels elastic and fine, place it in a plastic film and let it sit for 2 hours at room temperature.

When the dough rises, take it out on a mat and then divide it into three equal pieces. Like shown in the picture, roll the dough, stick its ends and cover with the dough edges. You will get three dough balls. Place them in the fridge, in bowls with lids. This way, the yeast will work slowly but the taste obtained will be fantastic.

After at least 5-6 hours in the fridge, take out the dough and bake the pizza (the dough balls keep for 3 days, so there’s no need to bake all of them on the first day... and you’ll notice that the last dough ball will taste best).

Oil the pizza pan, sprinkle semolina (this makes the dough fluffier). Add olive oil onto the dough and spread the dough over the pizza pan; then, pour tomato purée on top of it and bake in the preheated oven, at 220°C, for 4 minutes and a half.

Take the pizza out, place the mozzarella slices on it and bake for 3 minutes more.

When it’s done, sprinkle fresh basil leaves over it. Let it cool for a minute and cut yourself a slice.

How does it taste? J

/makes 2/

40g fresh yeast

330ml milk

2 eggs

130g sugar

650g flour (+50g flour)

100g butter (melted)

a drop of vanilla extract

zest from 2 organic lemons

Walnut filling:

200g ground walnuts

40g sugar

20g cocoa

a few drops of rum essence

a few drops of milk (optional)

+1 egg

Because some of my girlfriends told me that they found it difficult to bake cozonac and that they failed at it, I told myself that an old family recipe would help them. Especially as Easter approaches. J

It is so easy to make and I guarantee its success.

In a bowl, pour warm milk over the fresh yeast and let it sit for 5 minutes.

Add the whole eggs and the sugar and stir well. Then, mix in the flour, the melted butter, the vanilla extract, and the lemon zest. Knead only a bit (for 2-3 minutes); it will be an easy process, anyway. The dough should be moist but not sticky. Add up to 50g of flour to reach optimal consistency. Cover the bowl and let the dough rise for 2 hours in a warm place.

When the dough doubles, cover the bowl with a plastic film and let it sit in the fridge overnight. Remove the bowl from the fridge one hour before your start baking the cozonac.

Divide the dough into two equal pieces and each of these pieces – into two more. If you have two cozonac baking pans lined with baking parchment, the plain cozonac is very easy to make: roll the two mini-pieces of dough and then twist them and place the cozonac into the baking pan.

In the case of the walnut cozonac, mix the walnut, sugar, cocoa, rum essence, and milk (optional, to keep the filling together). Roll out each mini-piece of dough, spread half of the filling on each sheet and roll, sticking the ends together and the roll with egg. When you finish the second ‘roll’, twist them, place the cozonac in the baking pan and let it rise 10-15 minutes more.

Then, brush each cozonac with egg and place the baking pans inside the preheated oven, at 160°C, for 40-45 minutes. After it cools, slice it and enjoy the fluffiness!

Happy Easter! ♥

Makes 45

50ml milk

1 tbsp/5g fresh yeast

1 teaspoon sugar

300g flour

1 teaspoon salt

100g butter

1 egg

+ 1 tbsp caraway seeds

+ 15-20g hard cheese (shredded)

+ 1 egg yolk

I have been planning to try out this recipe for a long time (it’s my godmother Maria’s) and I gladly recall the childhood holidays that had mini-pretzels on the table. I thought it would be nice to inspire you with this recipe for Easter.  

This is how you bake them... and I’m still craving them even though I’ve munched too many today.

Heat the milk (but only a bit in order not to deactivate the yeast); add the fresh yeast and the sugar. After 5 minutes, add the flour, the salt, the melted butter, and the egg and knead well. Let the dough rest for 1 hour.

Divide the dough into two (it will be easier). Roll out the dough (thickness: 3-4mm), cut out mini-pretzels using a cutter, and place the mini-pretzels into a baking pan lined with parchment paper.  

When you’re done (the dough will be harder to work with after the first roll-out, so press firmly on the cutter), brush the yolk on the mini-pretzels. I decided to make 15 plain mini-pretzels, 15 with caraway seeds (my favourites), and 15 with cheddar (but you can use any other hard cheese).

Bake in the preheated oven at 180°C for 10-12 minutes (until the mini-pretzels turn brown).

I love the fact that these mini-pretzels are crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside. To keep them like that, store them in a dish with a lid.