Egg and anchovy vol-au-vent

Helen Graves

Canapé
easy
16
25 minutes

PT25M

No longer the preserve of your grandmother's dusty cookbooks and 70's dinner parties, vol-au-vent are experiencing a much deserved renaissance. Helen Graves fills the buttery puff pastry cases with a creamy egg mayonnaise, topped with a solitary anchovy for a hit of umami.

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Vol-au-vent are having a bit of a second wind recently, and rightly so – who doesn’t enjoy pastry with a creamy filling? These are best eaten immediately. If you’re going to serve them later on, make the filling and cases separately then combine just before serving.

375g of puff pastry
1 egg, beaten
8 large eggs
3 tbsp of mayonnaise
2 tbsp of tarragon leaves, chopped
1 tsp white wine vinegar
1/2 tsp white pepper
16 anchovies

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8cm round cutter
4cm round cutter
Rolling pin
Pastry brush

Preheat the oven to 190°C/gas mark 5

Roll out the pastry to a 4mm thickness. Cut circles out using the larger cutter, then use the smaller cutter to score smaller circles in the centre of each large circle (don't cut all the way through the pastry). You can re-roll the remaining pastry, but it won't rise as well, so try to be economical

Place the circles onto 2 large baking trays and brush with the beaten egg. Bake for 15 minutes, or until risen and golden. When cool enough to handle, remove the top layers of the scored inner circle, creating a well in the middle of the pastry, but leaving the base intact

While the pastry is baking, place the eggs in a pan of cold water. Bring to the boil and cook for 5 minutes. Transfer to a bowl of cold water and allow to cool

Peel the eggs and mash with a fork. Combine with the mayonnaise, vinegar, tarragon and white pepper, season to taste and divide between each pastry case. Top with an anchovy and serve

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Helen Graves

Helen Graves is a freelance food and travel writer, recipe developer and editor. She writes one of London's oldest food blogs, Food Stories and is editor of Pit Magazine, an independent magazine about live fire cooking and smoking. She is based in South East London and loves carbs, cats, crabs and kebabs.