Rough Puff Pastry and Wild Mushroom Pithiver
Home-made puff pastry with an assortment of wild mushrooms – perfect pairing with our Valpolicella Ripasso Superiore DOC Cecilia Beretta 2020.
For the Rough Puff Pastry (4 servings)
- 600g plain flour
- Salt
- 100g butter, chilled and cut into cubes
- 240g butter – frozen, grated and divided into two bowls (keep in freezer)
Method
1) Mix the flour and salt together in a bowl. Rub in the chilled butter using your fingertips until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add chilled water to form a dough (about 4-6 tablespoons of water).
2) Roll the dough out into a rectangle on a floured work surface.
3) Spread half of the frozen butter over the bottom two thirds of the dough. Fold down the top third and fold up the bottom third as if folding a letter.
4) Turn the folded dough through 90 degrees and roll it out into a rectangle again. Repeat the process of adding the remaining frozen butter and fold as before.
5) Wrap the dough in cling film and leave to rest in the fridge for 30 minutes before using.
For the Wild Mushroom Pithivier
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 50g butter
- 400g shallots, peeled
- 650g mixed mushrooms – mostly Portobello plus wild, oyster, shiitake mushroom etc.
- Salt and black pepper
- 200g crème fraiche
- 2 tbsp chopped tarragon
- 2 tbsp chopped parsley
- 900g rough puff pastry
- 1 egg, beaten
Method
1) Heat a large, heavy-based pan with the oil and butter, add the shallots and cook gently, stirring, until soft and brown. Add the mushrooms and sweat down for about 15-20 minutes.
2) Add the stock plus salt and pepper, and simmer until there is very little liquid left
3) Add the creme fraiche, the herbs and the baby spinach.
4) Cook down until the mixture is moist but not runny. Put in the fridge to cool.
5) Meanwhile, cut the pastry in two and roll both blocks into 4mm-thick squares. Rest in the fridge for 20 minutes, then cut into circles, one 27cm in diameter, the other 29cm. Leave to rest in the fridge again for at least 10 minutes.
6) Heat the oven to 200C. Place the smaller circle on a baking sheet lined with greaseproof paper, spread the cold mushroom filling on top, leaving a 2cm border all around.
7) Brush the edge with egg, lay the other circle on top and seal the edges. Bake for 35 minutes, until golden on top.
