Vol au vents are light puff pastry shells filled with yummy ingredients such as chicken, small meatballs, and mushrooms. They're a typical Belgian food and often found on the menu of casual eateries.
If you want to find out how to make vol au vents, you’ve come to the right place! Read on for a quick and easy chicken vol au vent recipe.
Chicken vol au vent recipe by mom
Ingredients for 4 people
For the filling
- 1 chicken, (ideally black-legged or farm chicken)
- 250g minced veal
- 250g white mushrooms
- 60g butter
- 80g flour
- 1 egg
- 1.5l chicken stock (make it yourself with chicken, leek, carrot, and celery or use chicken stock cubes)
- Lemon
- 1 tbsp bread crumbs
- 1 clove of garlic
- Salt and pepper
For the shells
- 2 sheets of puff pastry
- 1 egg
How to make vol au vent
The filling
1. Boil the chicken in the stock over medium heat. The meat should fall off the bone, so this should boil for about 1 hour.
2. Mix the minced meat with the egg and breadcrumbs. Season with a bit of salt and pepper, and mold the mixture into little meatballs using your hands.
3. Cut the mushrooms into quarters and heat them in the butter along with the crushed garlic for approximately 5 to 8 minutes.
4. Take the chicken out of the stock and pull all the meat off in small pieces. Add the meatballs to the stock, cooking them like this for approximately 5 minutes.
5. Now to make the sauce! First, make the roux: melt the butter over low heat (do not let it brown), and add the flour. Stir well until the flour has soaked up the butter and is a dry paste – it should not bake at this stage.
6. Then, using a large spoon, add the strained stock 1 or 2 spoonfuls at a time and stir constantly. After a few minutes of pouring you should have a runny sauce.
7. Next add the mushrooms (without the garlic), the chicken, and the meatballs.
8. Squeeze in some lemon juice and season the chicken mixture with salt and pepper. You can also add some cream at this point if you want, but it is not really necessary.
The shells
You can buy vol au vent cases anywhere in Belgium at the bakery or in a department store. Alternatively, you can make them yourself really easily. Here’s the method for making one shell (you’ll need two circular pastry cutters, one large and one small):
1. Push six circles out of the pastry using the large pastry cutter.
2. Using the smaller cutter, cut out a circle in the middle of four of the larger circles. This will leave you with four rings and two full circles.
3. Make the case by stacking the four rings on top of each other on one of the full circles. At the top, put the last full circle and glue them closed with a mixture of egg yolk and some water. Bake them in the oven at 180°C for about 15 – 20 minutes.
4. When cool, remove the lid and fill the case with the vol au vent sauce. Replace the lid as a garnish, or rest it to one side on the plate. Serve with fries (and maybe a glass of white wine) – delicious!
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