Filled Vol-au-vents

Vol-au-vents are small bites of puff pastry that can be stuffed in a thousand different ways, both sweet and savory. Here’s a basic recipe for savory filled vol-au-vents that you can personalize to your liking:

Ingredients

• 1 roll of ready-made puff pastry (or homemade if you prefer)
• 1 egg yolk (for brushing)
• Filling of choice (example: sautéed mushrooms, béchamel sauce, and cooked ham)

Preparation

1. Start by preheating the oven to 200 °C (392 °F).
2. Roll out the puff pastry and with a round pastry cutter or a glass, cut out disks.
3. With a slightly smaller pastry cutter, score the center of half of the disks to create rings.
4. Brush the full disks with a little beaten egg yolk.
5. Place a pastry ring on top of the full disk.
6. Brush the top rings again with the egg yolk so that they will brown during baking.
7. Place the vol-au-vents on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake for about 10-15 minutes or until golden brown.
8. In the meantime, prepare the filling. If you choose a filling of mushrooms and ham, for example, sauté the mushrooms in a pan with some oil, garlic, and parsley. Add diced cooked ham and, if you like, some béchamel sauce to make the mixture creamy.
9. Take the vol-au-vents out of the oven and let them cool down a little.
10. Gently remove the puff pastry cap that has formed in the center and fill the vol-au-vents with the prepared filling.
11. Serve the filled vol-au-vents immediately.

Curiosity

The vol-au-vent (which means “fly in the wind” in French) owes its name to the lightness of the puff pastry which, if well prepared, turns out to be so flaky and light that it seems it could “fly in the wind”. It is a classic of French cuisine, usually served as an appetizer or aperitif. In the filling, you can indulge in Italian variations such as a stuffing of ricotta and spinach or with a sausage ragu and stracciatella di burrata.