Chicken, Squash & Sage Pithivier

Chef: Sally Abé, courtesy of Great British Chefs. Serve up a slice of wow at this weekend’s lunch gathering with our puff pastry pithivier recipe – crafted with chicken, squash and sage.

Quick Stats

Moderate

6 Servings

50 minutes bake time

Chicken, Squash & Sage Pithivier

Chef: Sally Abé, courtesy of Great British Chefs. Serve up a slice of wow at this weekend’s lunch gathering with our puff pastry pithivier recipe – crafted with chicken, squash and sage.

Ingredients

2 packets Jus-Rol Puff Pastry
500 g Chicken breasts
500 ml Chicken stock
1 neck end of butternut squash
200 g portabello mushrooms, peeled, chopped with stalks removed
200 g spinach
20 g fresh sage
2 egg yolks, beaten for glazing
flour

Made With

Chilled Puff Pastry Sheets

Jus-Rol’s ready rolled Puff Pastry Sheet is perfect for tasty dinners and desserts.

Equipment required

Round Pastry Cutter
Parchment Paper
Pastry Brush

Techniques Used

How to Roll Puff Pastry
How to Roll Puff Pastry
1. For best results when rolling out puff pastry use a large, clean dry area of the work surface and lightly dust it with plain flour.
2. Place pastry dough on surface and lightly dust it and the rolling pin with flour.
3. Roll pastry firmly, always rolling away from you, give the dough 2-3 rolls.
4. Then turn the dough a quarter turn.
5. Dust again if necessary and continue rolling out, frequently turning the pastry so it is not always rolled in the same direction as this causes shrinkage.
6. When the pastry has increased in size, pick it up to turn by rolling it round the rolling pin.
7. Lift the pin with the pastry around it carefully and turn it to lay out and continue rolling. Again this is done to prevent the pastry from stretching as you lift it which in turn would result in shrinkage in baking. Puff pastry should be rolled out to approx. 4-5 mm depth.
8. To re- roll puff pastry once you have cut something out from the main piece, layer up all the trimmings, folding to achieve approximately an even stack.
9. Press stack lightly together with fingers.
10. Then roll out as before.

Method

Preheat the oven to 190°C/gas mark 5
Peel the neck end of squash and slice lengthways into long slices about 2cm thick (you will get roughly three slices). Season with salt and a little olive oil and wrap in foil. Bake for 30 – 40 minutes until just cooked. Turn the oven up to 200°C/gas mark 6
Meanwhile, add the chicken stock to a large pan and bring to a gentle simmer. Add the chicken breasts and poach for 15 – 20 minutes. Once the chicken is cooked through, allow to cool in the poaching liquid
Fill another large pan with salted water and bring to the boil. Blanch the spinach for 1 minute, then quickly drain and refresh in iced water. Squeeze out any excess moisture from the spinach using kitchen towel and roughly chop
Remove the chicken from the stock and pat dry on kitchen paper, chop into small pieces
Pan fry the mushrooms for 5 – 6 minutes and drain on kitchen paper (it is important that all the filling components are dry, otherwise the pastry will become soggy)
Mix together the chicken, spinach, sage and mushrooms and reserve
To assemble the pithivier, lightly dust a clean work surface with flour and roll one packet of the pastry out so that it is about ½ cm thick. Trim the edges to create a circle (roughly 20cm in diameter) and place on a baking tray
Roll the other packet to the same thickness and trim to form a slightly larger circle, keep to one side
Arrange the slices of squash over the base of the pastry, leaving a thin border around the edge (you may need to trim the squash slices to make them fit)
Pile the chicken mixture on top of the squash to make a domed shape
Place the larger piece of pastry over the top, and press so that it fits tightly around. Push down on the border with your fingers to seal. Transfer to the fridge for 1 hour to firm up
When the pastry has chilled, remove from the fridge and brush with the egg yolks to glaze. To score the pastry, very gently run a knife in semi-circles down from the centre of the pastry to the edges. Return to the fridge to rest for a further 15 minutes
Bake the pithivier for 10 minutes, then turn the oven down to 180°C and bake for a further 30 – 40 minutes until the pastry is golden brown
Serve with some simple steamed beans, or seasonal vegetables