1,490 easy and fully explained recipes, with +66K photos and 78 videos

Vol-au-vent

The classic vol-au-vent of French cuisine consists of a very light puff pastry case (supposedly so light that it could fly off in the lightest puff of wind) with a cream-based filling.

There are many different recipes for fillings. This version uses bacon, chicken, mushrooms and leeks.

150 K 4.1/5 (41 reviews)

1 hour 25 min. difficulté

Easy

7.65 €

12 people

12 Ingredients

Last modified on: October 20^th 2013

For this recipe: I want to make it (479×) I made it (471×) Comment Send to a friend Ask a question Follow Printable Diaporama Vidéo User-friendly URL

For 12 people, you will need:

1 3 leeks
2 2 onion
3 2 litres 250 ml mushrooms
4 2 lemon
5 450 mls small pieces of bacon
6 3 tablespoons vinegar
7 714 mls chicken breast
8 750 ml cream
9 18 tablespoons olive oil
10 12 vol-au-vents cases
11 salt
12 pepper

Change to the quantities for:

2 people 4 people 8 people 12 people

Change measures:

Metric

Metric weight Metric volumes

Times for this recipe

Preparation: 40 min.

Cooking: 45 min.

All in all: 1 hour 25 min.

When should you start or finish this recipe?

If you start now, at , you will finish around : ?.Change start time

To finish around 7pm, you'll need to have started before: .Change end time

Step by step recipe

Stage 1 - 20 min.

Rinse and chop 3 leeks. Rinse and chop 2 onion.

Stage 2 - 5 min.

Pour 2 tablespoonsful of olive oil into a frying pan on medium heat. When hot, add the chopped onion, salt and pepper. Cook for 1 minute without colouring.

Add the leek, salt and pepper again, stir well and cook until the leek is just cooked but still a fresh green.

Set aside.

Stage 3 - 5 min.

Wash and chop the mushrooms into small pieces (these are shiitake, but you can use others, particularly wild ones: morels, chanterelles, etc.).

Stage 4 - 5 min.

Using the same pan on medium heat, pour in 2 tablespoonsful of olive oil. When hot, add the mushrooms, salt and pepper and cook briefly (they should not have time to soften much).

At the last minute, add the juice of half a lemon.

Set aside.

Stage 5 - 8 min.

Still using the same pan, fry 450 mls small pieces of bacon.

At the last minute, add 3 tablespoons vinegar.

Set aside.

Stage 6 - 10 min.

Cut 714 mls chicken breast into small pieces.

Pour 2 tablespoonsful of olive oil into the frying pan and fry the chicken pieces after seasoning.

Stage 7 - 2 min.

When they are browned, tip the bacon and mushrooms back into the pan on top.

Stage 8 - 15 min.

Add 750 ml cream, salt and pepper and mix thoroughly.

Heat the oven to 360°F (180°C) and heat the plates.

Stage 9 - 5 min.

Leave the sauce to reduce on low heat.

.When the mixture has thickened, add the leek then turn off the heat (this will help the leek to stay green).

Stage 10 - 8 min.

Reheat the 12 vol-au-vents cases for 5 minutes in the oven. Place a pastry case on each plate and fill until slightly overflowing.

Serve immediately on its own or with pilau rice, for example.

Remarks

The vol-au-vent was invented by the great chef Antonin Carême in the early 19^th century.

I maintain (admittedly with a certain caution) that the French "bouchées à la reine" (literally, the Queen's mouthfuls) are simply small, bite-sized vol-au-vents.

And to drink?

A light Beaujolais.

Keeping: The filling will keep for several days in the fridge, but once the vol-au-vent is filled, only a few

Source: Home made.

Nutritional information

	Proteins (gr)	Carbohydrates (gr)	Fats (gr)	Energy value (in k-calories)	Energy value (in k-joules)
Whole recipe	220 RDI=80 %	200 RDI=20 %	650 RDI=100 %	7,540 RDI=380 %	31,570 RDI: 380 %
Per 100 g	6 RDI=2 %	5 RDI=1 %	20 RDI=3 %	210 RDI=10 %	890 RDI: 10 %
Per person	20 RDI=7 %	20 RDI=2 %	50 RDI=8 %	630 RDI=30 %	2,630 RDI: 30 %

The % figures are calculated in relation to the Recommended Dietary Intake , or RDI of 2,000 k-calories (or 8,400 k-joules) per day for a woman Change to a man

Possible allergens in this recipe: Sulfites, Milk, Gluten, egg

How much will it cost?

For 12 people : 19.85 €
Per person : 1.70 €

Change currency:

Note: Be careful, these prices are only an estimate, you can consult the table of prices by ingredients used for this estimate.

This recipe uses (among others)

Other recipes you may also like

Millefeuille

Millefeuille is one of the best pastries available, if it is well made, i.e.: 2 layers of light vanilla cream between 3 layers of fine crispy (possibly caramelized) puff pastry.
October 13^th 2010333 K4.6 1 hour 45 min.

French custard tart

Custard pie is made with a shortcrust pastry base, and filled with an egg vanilla "custard" mix (prepared beforehand). Filling and pastry cook together in the oven. It's a great classic of the French bakery, found in all good shops.
July 13^th 2022444 K 234.3 1 hour 10 min.

Real home-made chips*

It's not easy to make these - the original "French fries" - well at home, that is, to produce golden and crunchy chips from fresh potatoes. Here is a way of doing it in three cooking stages, which gives very good results: melting in the middle, crunchy on the outside, and a nice golden colour....
December 30^th 2019436 K5 1 hour 50 min.

Bacon rolls

These tasty little rolls are enriched with bacon bits and toasted sesame seeds. The slightly flaky texture comes from lard, folded in like for puff pastry. Served sliced, these make an ideal savoury snack to share with friends over a drink.
October 24^th 201767 K4.6 3 hours 40 min.

Sautéed pork with mushrooms in a cream sauce.

For this rich and succulent dish, we begin by frying the mushrooms then the pork separately, before adding the cream, to bring out the fullest flavours.
May 10^th 202371 K 50 min.

News list of cooking-ez.com

Note: We'll never share your e-mail address with anyone else.