"These are perfect for a special family meal," Michel Roux says.
By Michel Roux
“Make the filling and pastry ahead, glaze and bake the pies just before serving.”
MICHEL ROUX’S CLASSIC PUFF PASTRY RECIPE
Makes 1.2kg
500g (1lb 2oz) plain flour
1 tsp salt
25ml (⅞fl oz) white wine vinegar
200ml (7fl oz) ice-cold water
50g (1¾oz) melted butter
400g (14oz) very cold butter
- Put the flour in a mound on a cool work surface (ideally marble) and make a well in the middle. Put the salt, wine vinegar, water and melted butter into the well.
- Mix the ingredients in the well together with the fingertips of one hand, gradually drawing in the flour with your other hand. Work the mixturetogether with your fingertips to a dough.
- When the pastry is almost amalgamated, push it with the palm of your hand 5 or 6 times until it is completely hom*ogeneous. Roll the pastry into a ball, wrap in cling film and refrigerate for 2 hours.
Folding and turning
- Lightly flour the clean surface. Roll out the ball of pastry, rolling the four corners further out to make four large flaps. Bash the cold butter several times with the rolling pin to make it pliable and place in the centre of the pastry. Fold the flaps over the butter toenclose it.
- Lightly flour the work surface again. Roll the pastry away from you to make a rectangle about 70cm x 40cm. Fold the ends over the middle to make three layers. This is the first turn.
- Give the pastry a quarter-turn and once more roll it away from you into a 70cm x 40cm rectangle, then fold it into three layers again. This is the second turn. Wrap the pastry in cling film and refrigerate for 1 hour.
- Repeat the rolling out and folding twice more to make two more turns and refrigerate the pastry again for an hour. Make another 2 turns (a total of 6turns) and chill the pastry for an hour. It is now ready to use.
Note: At each stage of folding, mark the number of turns with your fingertip to remind you which stage you are at.
If you intend to freeze the pastry, it is best to do only four turns before freezing, and make the final two turns after thawing, about 1 hour before using the pastry.
Serves 4
FOR THE FILLING
400g (14oz) classic puff pastry (above)
1 free-range chicken, about 1.4kg (3lb), boned and cut into 8 pieces, carcase reserved
50g (1¾oz) melted butter
2 medium onions, quartered
150g (5½oz) tomatoes, peeled, deseeded and diced
Bouquet garni
Salt and freshly ground pepper
150ml (5fl oz) dry white wine
50g (1¾oz) plain flour
140g (5¼ oz) pork belly, de-rinded andcut into large lardons
600ml (1 pint) chicken stock (freshly made or good ready-made)
150g (5½oz) carrots, cut into thick rounds
150g (5½oz) broccoli florets
30g (1¼ oz) butter
100g (3½ oz) field or Portobello mushrooms, quartered
Eggwash (1 egg yolk mixed with 1tbspmilk)
- Heat the oven to 180C/360F/Gas 4.
- Break the chicken carcass into pieces. Heat the butter in a large deep frying pan. Add the chicken pieces and chopped carcass and colour lightly over a medium heat. Add the onions, tomatoes and bouquet garni, season lightly and cook for a few minutes. Pour in the wine, cover the pan with a lid and simmer gently for 15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, scatter the flour on a baking tray and toast in the oven for five minutes. Blanch the lardons in boiling salted water for five minutes, then drain and pat dry.
- Remove the chicken pieces from the pan, place in a bowl and cover with a damp tea towel. Sprinkle the toasted flour into the frying pan, stirring as you go, then add the chicken stock. Bring to the boil, stirring occasionally, and cook for 20 minutes, skimming the surface from time to time.
- In the meantime, cook the carrots inboiling salted water for 6 minutes. Blanch the broccoli for 30 seconds.
- Heat the butter in a frying pan, add the lardons and fry until golden, then tip into a bowl. Add the mushrooms to the same pan, sauté for 2-3 minutes and add to the lardons.
- Strain the sauce over the chicken pieces. Add the carrots, lardons, mushrooms and broccoli, mix with awooden spoon and season.
- Divide the chicken, sauce and vegetables between four individual piedishes, 14cm in diameter and 4cmdeep. Leave at room temperature until cold, then refrigerate for at least an hour.
- To assemble, on a lightly floured surface roll out one quarter of the pastry to a 15–16cm disc, 3mm thick.
- Brush the top edge of one pie dish with eggwash and cover with the pastry disc. Repeat with the other pies and refrigerate for 20 minutes.
- Cut off the excess pastry overhanging the dishes and brush thetop of the pies with eggwash.
- Roll out the pastry trimmings to a 1.5mm thickness and cut out thin crescents with a 4.5cm fluted pastry cutter. Arrange 7 crescents around theedge of each pie and brush them with eggwash.
- Use a sharp knife to cut a small hole in the centre of the pies, then bake at 180C/360F/Gas 4 for 30minutes. Put the pies on individual plates and serve piping hot, with a salad or green vegetables.
- For more recipes see: Michel Roux’s Pastry (Quadrille; £9.99).
MICHEL’S TOP TIPS
- The best flour to make puff pastry with is French type 45, which is available from Shipton Mill (www.shipton-mill.com). Use butter, never margarine, when making pastry.
- To save time, a Krups electric mixer (available from www.krups.co.uk) has built-in scales to weigh the ingredients directly into the bowl and comes with a hook to combine the dough. Use non-stick, Tefal-coated frying pans, pastry moulds and loose-bottomed tart tins.
- Always work the dough with your fingertips to keep it light.
