Recipes

How to make vol au vents using puff pastry

1. Take a frozen puff pastry sheet (don’t thaw it) and cut rounds out of it. I used a cutter with 5 cm/2 inches diameter. On a baking tray lined with parchment paper place these rounds with distance between them. This is the base of the vol au vent shells.
2. Then cut some more rounds of the same size and by using a slightly smaller cutter (mine was of 3.5cm/1.25 inches diameter) cut out the inner portion so you are left with an outer ring. If you have 10 bases you need 20 outer rings. 2 outer rings for each puff pastry base.
3. Brush the bottom base with egg wash, place one outer ring on the edges. Prick the middle of the base 2-3 times to prevent that area from puffing up. Then brush some egg wash, place the second ring. Give a final brush of egg wash and repeat for all rounds.
4. Refrigerate these pastries for 15 mins.
5. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 200 °C (400 °F) for 15-20 mins until golden and puffy.

Filling

1. In a heavy pan, melt the butter on low heat.
2. Add the flour stirring well to make a paste and cook for 1 minute.
3. Remove the pan from the heat and whisk in the milk. Place the pan back on the heat cooking at medium stirring gently until the mixture boils.
4. Reduce the heat and simmer until thickened. Add the curry paste and season with salt and pepper if required.
5. Top with your choice of topping and garnish with parsley, avocado, dill etc.