A creamy ragout of chicken, veal and small veal meatballs with mushrooms, spooned into a crisp puff pastry case. The classic Belgian Sunday dish, invariably served with a mountain of chips.
Vol-au-vent
Vol-au-vent
Method
01
Shape the meatballs
Mix the minced veal with a pinch of nutmeg, pepper and salt. Shape into small balls (approx. 2 cm).
02
Poach the meat
Bring the stock to the boil in a wide pan. Poach the meatballs for approx. 5 minutes, lift out with a slotted spoon and set aside. Poach the chicken breast and veal cubes in the same stock for 8–10 minutes until cooked, lift out and cut the chicken into cubes. Keep the stock.
03
Fry the mushrooms
Fry the mushrooms in a knob of butter until golden brown, and set aside.
04
Make a roux
Melt the butter in a pan, stir in the flour and cook for 2 minutes, stirring, without colouring.
05
Add the stock
Gradually whisk in the warm stock to a smooth, creamy sauce. Simmer gently for 5 minutes.
06
Finish
Stir in the cream and season with lemon juice, nutmeg, pepper and salt.
07
Combine
Add the meatballs, the chicken and veal and the mushrooms to the sauce and warm everything through for another 5 minutes.
08
Warm the vol-au-vent cases
Warm the puff pastry cases in the oven according to the instructions on the packet.
09
Serve
Fill the warm cases with the ragout, set the 'lid' on at an angle and serve immediately with chips.
Tips & notes
Poach the meat gently, never let it boil; that keeps the chicken and veal tender instead of tough and dry. Ready-made puff pastry cases (vol-au-vent shells) are a perfectly good and common choice; you can of course also bake your own with puff pastry. Keeps for 2–3 days in a sealed container in the fridge.
Variations
- Add cubes of smoked ham for extra flavour.
- Make 'bouchées à la reine' by spooning the same ragout into small puff pastry cases, as a drinks snack.
Contains:
Gluten
Milk
Serve with
| Calories | 372 kcal |
|---|---|
| Protein | 42 g |
| Carbohydrates | 14 g |
| Fat | 16 g |
| Fibre | 1 g |
Estimated values, calculated from standard nutritional values per ingredient.
