Name: Guruli Gvezeli
Prep time: 45 min
Cook time: 24 min
Total time: 2 h 29 min
Cuisine: Georgian
Ingredients: 750 g strong white bread flour, plus dusting flour; 7 g instant yeast; 8 g fine salt; 8 g sugar; 150 ml milk and 150 ml water, both lukewarm (about 35 °C); 1 large egg; 40 g unsalted butter, melted and cooled; 600 g crumbled Imeretian cheese; 8 large eggs, hard-boiled, cooled, peeled and halved lengthwise; 1 egg yolk; 30 g plain unsweetened matsoni

Golden Gurian cheese-and-egg crescents on a platter in a wide Georgian home-table view.

Yield8 crescent pastries

Serving1 pastry, about 250 g baked

DifficultyModerate

DietaryVegetarian; contains wheat/gluten, milk and egg

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The dish

About Guruli Gvezeli

Guruli Gvezeli: Georgian Gurian Cheese and Egg Pastries

Eight soft yeasted crescents from Georgia’s Guria region, each filled with Imeretian cheese and a hard-boiled egg. The milk-and-water dough bakes golden in a home oven.

Guruli gvezeli is associated with Guria in western Georgia. Its crescent shape, soft bread dough, cheese and boiled-egg filling distinguish it from many other Georgian cheese breads.

The pastry is strongly connected with Christmas in Guria, where household shapes and sizes can vary. It is also made for other family visits and occasions, so it is not limited to the holiday table.

This home-oven version makes eight generous crescents with one hard-boiled egg in each. Soft dough made with equal parts milk and water encloses crumbled Imeretian cheese and a lengthwise-halved egg. Cheese saltiness varies; taste before adding any extra.

Cook the dish

Ingredients

Guruli Gvezeli: Georgian Gurian Cheese and Egg Pastries

Dough

750 gstrong white bread flour, plus dusting flour
7 ginstant yeast
8 gfine salt
8 gsugar
150 mlmilk and 150 ml water, both lukewarm (about 35 °C)
1large egg
40 gunsalted butter, melted and cooled

Filling

600 gcrumbled Imeretian cheese
8large eggs, hard-boiled, cooled, peeled and halved lengthwise

Glaze

1egg yolk
30 gplain unsweetened matsoni

Method

Warm the milk and water to about 35 °C. Stir in yeast and sugar; leave 5 minutes. Mix flour and salt in a large bowl. Add the yeast mixture, dough egg and butter. Knead 8–10 minutes until smooth, elastic and slightly tacky.
Cover and let rise in a warm place about 60 minutes, until doubled. Meanwhile, simmer the eight eggs for 10 minutes until firm; cool completely, peel and halve lengthwise. Crumble the cheese.
Heat the oven to 200 °C conventional (180 °C fan). Line two baking sheets. Divide dough into eight equal balls; cover and rest 10 minutes.
Roll each ball into a round about 18 cm wide. Place about 75 g cheese on one half and both lengthwise halves of one egg on top. Fold the other half over, then pinch the curved edge firmly into a crescent. Place seam-side down. Cover and rest 15 minutes.
Beat yolk with matsoni and brush lightly over each pastry. Bake on the centre rack 22–26 minutes, swapping trays once, until deep golden and set underneath. Check a centre pastry with a clean thermometer: the egg-containing centre must reach at least 71 °C.
Rest on a rack 5 minutes; serve warm.

Practical guidance

If dough springs back, cover and let it relax another 5–10 minutes. Keep a clean border around the filling and pinch the crescent seam closed so cheese stays inside.

Use low-moisture mozzarella if Imeretian cheese is unavailable; it is milder and less regionally characteristic. A little feta may add salt, so taste first. Keep total cheese at 600 g.

Refrigerate leftovers within 2 hours at or below 4 °C; use within 3–4 days. Reheat to 74 °C throughout. Baked, cooled pastries freeze airtight for up to 2 months; thaw in the refrigerator before reheating.

Nutrition per serving

Serving size: 1 pastry, about 250 g baked
Calories: 690 kcal
Carbohydrate: 78 g
Protein: 31 g
Fat: 29 g
Fibre: 3 g
Sodium: about 1,160 mg

Allergens and food safety

Contains wheat/gluten, milk and egg. Keep eggs chilled, wash hands and utensils after handling raw egg, and fully cook egg-containing pastries to at least 71 °C. Refrigerate leftovers within 2 hours and reheat them to 74 °C.

Closing notes

Each crescent holds one boiled egg and a savoury cheese centre.
A soft dough and firmly sealed curved edge help the pastries bake evenly.