Wild mushroom, spinach and goat's cheese vol-au-vents with poached duck egg and pimento cream
by
Mark Dodson's delightful take on vol-au-vents combines wild mushrooms, spinach, goat's cheese – Vulscombe if available – with a gorgeous pimento cream, topped with a poached duck egg. Perfect as a vegetarian starter for any dinner party.
Ingredients
Wild mushroom vol-au-vents
- 4 puff pastry, cut into 9cm circles
- olive oil
- 80g of vulscombe goat's cheese
- 160g of baby spinach leaves , picked and washed
- 80g of wild mushrooms , finely sliced
- 4 duck eggs
- salt to season
Pimento cream
- 4 red peppers , finely diced
- 1 banana shallot , finely diced
- 1 garlic clove , minced
- 100ml of cream
- salt to season
Garnish
Equipment
- Blender
- Fine chinoise
Method
1
To make the vol-au-vents, preheat the oven to 175˚C/gas mark 3 and bake the puff pastry circles for 12–14 minutes until golden brown. Remove and keep in a warm dry place
- 4 puff pastry
2
While the puff pastry is cooking, add a layer of oil to a large frying pan on a medium. When the pan is hot, sauté the mushrooms until golden, add the baby spinach and cook until wilted
- 160g of baby spinach leaves
- 80g of wild mushrooms
3
Remove the pan from the heat and add the goat's cheese while the contents are still warm. Season to taste and set aside to cool
- 80g of vulscombe goat's cheese
- salt to season
4
To make the pimento cream, sweat the shallots and garlic in a little olive oil until translucent. Add three quarters of the diced red pepper and cook until soft. Add the cream, bring to a simmer and remove from the heat. Blend, season and pass through a fine strainer. Return to the pot for reheating later
- 1 banana shallot
- 1 garlic clove
- 100ml of cream
- salt to season
- 4 red peppers
5
For the vol-au-vents, hollow out the centre of the puff pastry circles by gently breaking through with a spoon. Spoon in even amounts of the mushroom goat's cheese mix and return to the oven for 5 minutes at 170˚C/gas mark 3
6
While the vol-au-vents are heating through, bring a large pot of salted water up to a boil and poach the duck eggs for 3 minutes. Sauté the remaining diced red pepper in a little olive oil and set aside
- 4 duck eggs
- olive oil
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Wild mushroom, spinach and goat's cheese vol-au-vents with poached duck egg and pimento cream
