Description
Le vol-au-vent belge is a classic Belgian dish featuring tender chicken simmered with aromatic vegetables to create a rich broth, combined with a creamy mushroom sauce and served in delicate puff pastry shells. This comforting recipe balances hearty flavors and textures, making it a beloved family favorite perfect for any occasion.
Ingredients
Scale
Chicken and Broth
- 1 poulet fermier (free-range chicken)
- 1 poireau (leek)
- 1 oignon (onion)
- 2 branches de céleri (celery stalks)
- 2 carottes (carrots)
- 1 bouquet garni (herb bundle)
- Poivre (pepper)
- Sel (salt)
- 1 litre de bouillon de poulet (chicken broth) – reserved from cooking the chicken
Sauce and Mushrooms
- 1 dl de crème fraîche 30% MG (100 ml heavy cream, 30% fat)
- 70 gr de farine (all-purpose flour)
- 50 gr de beurre (butter) for the sauce
- Le jus d’½ citron (juice of half a lemon)
- 1 jaune d’œuf (egg yolk)
- Poivre (pepper)
- 250 gr de champignons de Paris (white mushrooms)
- 20 gr de beurre (butter) for cooking mushrooms
Pastry
- 4 petits feuilletés (small puff pastry shells)
Instructions
- Prepare the broth: Wash and coarsely chop the carrots, leek, celery stalks, and onion. In a large casserole, place the whole chicken along with the chopped vegetables and bouquet garni. Cover completely with water, season with salt and pepper, and let simmer over medium heat for 60 minutes until the chicken is cooked through.
- Cook the mushrooms: While the chicken cooks, clean and slice the mushrooms thinly. In a frying pan, melt 20 grams of butter and sauté the mushrooms until tender and lightly browned. Remove from heat and set aside.
- Finish the broth: At the end of cooking, remove the chicken from the pot. Strain and reserve 1 liter of the chicken cooking broth for the sauce.
- Make the vol-au-vent sauce: In a skillet, melt 50 grams of butter. Sprinkle the flour over the melted butter and whisk constantly for about 1 minute to create a roux. Gradually add the reserved chicken broth, whisking continuously to create a smooth sauce without lumps.
- Enrich the sauce: In a small bowl, mix the crème fraîche with the egg yolk. Slowly incorporate this mixture into the sauce while stirring. Add the lemon juice and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper as needed.
- Combine chicken and sauce: Preheat the oven to 180°C (356°F). Cut the cooked chicken into bite-sized pieces and fold them into the sauce along with the sautéed mushrooms.
- Warm the pastry: Place the puff pastry shells on a baking tray and heat them in the oven for about 10 minutes until warm and slightly crisp.
- Serve: Spoon a generous portion of the vol-au-vent mixture into each warm puff pastry shell. Serve alongside classic Belgian fries or your preferred accompaniments. Enjoy your traditional Belgian vol-au-vent!
Notes
- Le vol-au-vent is a beloved Belgian dish enjoyed by people of all ages and is full of nostalgic family flavors.
- Using a free-range chicken enhances the depth of flavor in the broth.
- If preferred, mushrooms can be varied or omitted to suit dietary needs.
- For a lighter version, substitute crème fraîche with a lower-fat cream option.
- This dish pairs excellently with Belgian fries or a simple green salad.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 serving
- Calories: 1536 kcal
- Sugar: 5 g
- Sodium: 750 mg
- Fat: 96 g
- Saturated Fat: 55 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 35 g
- Trans Fat: 0.5 g
- Carbohydrates: 97 g
- Fiber: 6 g
- Protein: 71 g
- Cholesterol: 280 mg
