This clever recipe uses vol-au-vent cases as the pie base. It’s quite ingenious as it means no soggy bottomed pies!
Ingredients
- 40g unsalted butter
- 1 leek (white part only), thinly sliced
- 6 button mushrooms, sliced
- 2 tablespoons plain flour
- 3/4 cup Massel chicken style liquid stock
- 3/4 cup thickened cream
- 2 tablespoons good-quality basil pesto, plus extra to serve if desired
- 3 cups chopped cooked chicken
- 6 vol-au-vent cases
- 2 sheets frozen puff pastry, thawed
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- 1 teaspoon nigella seeds or sesame seeds (optional)
- 250g vine-ripened cherry tomatoes
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
Method
- Step 1Preheat the oven to 180C. Melt butter in a pan over medium-low heat. Add leek and cook, stirring, for 5 minutes or until soft. Add mushroom and cook for a further minute, then add flour and stir for 1 minute. Gradually stir in chicken stock, then bring mixture to simmer. Add cream and cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring, until thickened. Cool, season, then stir in pesto. Stir the chicken into the sauce.
- Step 2Using a vol-au-vent as a template, cut 6 lids from puff pastry sheets. Place vol-au-ents on a baking tray and fill with chicken mixture. Brush edge of pastry lids with a little water and place on top, pressing edges to seal. Brush tops of pies with beaten egg and sprinkle with nigella seeds, if using. Bake for 15-20 minutes until golden.
- Step 3Meanwhile, place tomatoes on a tray, drizzle with olive oil and season. Bake in the oven with pies for 6-8 minutes until tomatoes are just starting to burst. Serve pies with tomatoes and extra pesto, if desired.
Notes
Good-quality pesto is from delis. Vol-au-vent pastries are from the baking section in supermarkets. Nigella seeds are from delis and Asian food shops.
- Author: Valli Little, Food director – delicious.
- Image credit: Brett Stevens
- Publication: Taste.com.au
0