Mushroom and Époisses Pithiviers
Ingredients
Drizzle of olive oil
2 large, flat mushrooms (about 70g each), stalks trimmed
30g butter
150g mixed mushrooms, such as chestnut, flat, button or portobello, very finely chopped
1 large banana shallot (or 2 round shallots), very finely chopped
1 fat garlic clove, crushed
70ml Madeira
1 tsp sherry vinegar
5-6 fresh sage leaves, shredded
100g époisses, half cut into small chunks, half sliced
Flour to dust
500g block all-butter puff pastry
1 free-range egg, beaten, to glaze
How to make it
These irresistible Mushroom and Époisses Pithiviers are puff-pastry parcels filled with meaty Époisses cheese and mushrooms. Serve them as a main course with a potato salad and greens.
- Heat a good drizzle of oil in a frying pan over a high heat
- Add the flat mushrooms, stalk-side up, season, then fry for 3-4 minutes until golden
- Turn them, then fry for another 3-4 minutes, pressing down with a spatula to brown evenly
- Put the fried mushrooms in a colander, leaning them against the sides so any liquid can run out
- When most of the moisture has gone, dry the mushrooms using kitchen paper
- Leave to cool, then chill on a plate lined with more kitchen paper
- Meanwhile, clean the frying pan and melt two-thirds of the butter
- Add the chopped mushrooms and season well
- Fry on a high heat, stirring now and then, until golden and shrunken
- Remove to a plate
- Reduce the heat, then add the remaining butter to the pan and gently fry the shallot and garlic for 4-5 minutes until translucent
- Return the chopped mushrooms to the pan, turn the heat back up to high, then pour in the Madeira and sherry vinegar
- Bubble until all the liquid has evaporated
- Stir through the sage leaves, then transfer everything to a plate to cool
- Put the flat mushrooms stalk-side up on a board, then cut away the stalk and some of the flesh to make a small well
- Stir the époisses chunks into the cooled mushroom mixture, then press half of it onto each flat mushroom
- Top with the sliced époisses, then season
- Preheat the oven to 200°C/fan 180°C/gas 6
- On a lightly floured work surface, roll the pastry out to a square the thickness of a £1 coin
- Cut it into quarters, then put a stuffed mushroom in the centre of 2 of the squares
- Brush a little water around each mushroom, then lay a second pastry square on top, pressing down around the filling to remove all the air
- Trim the pastry into circles, leaving a 2-3cm border around the filling
- Using a floured fork, press all around the border to seal
- Brush the pastry with beaten egg, then lightly score the top with curved lines
- Chill for 10 minutes
- Brush the pithiviers again with beaten egg, bake in the top third of the oven for 20-25 minutes, on an oiled baking sheet, until puffed and golden
- Serve with the green beans, drizzled with a little olive oil
Original recipe in Delicious Magazine
