There are some days when you just shouldn’t set foot in the kitchen. My second batch of vol-au-vents was pathetic – I’d used puff pastry that had been in the freezer for a year, and it smelt cheesy (it really shouldn’t!).
So I tried again with a block of puff pastry, rolled a little thicker than the ready-rolled stuff, and made one giant vol-au-vent using a bowl as my guide. Filled with chicken, it’s a fantastic main-course size. Delightful!
A storage tip: don’t keep unfilled pastry cases in the fridge. Store them at room temperature for a couple of days, then wrap them tightly and freeze. I won’t be freezing these, though – I’ll be eating them.