Vol-au-Vent à la Bruxelloise

Vol-au-vent à la Bruxelloise is a puff pastry case filled with chicken, small meatballs and mushrooms in a creamy sauce. The airy pastry case is a 19th-century French invention, but the Belgian version — chicken, small meatballs and mushrooms in plenty of sauce — grew into a tradition of its own: a full meal rather than a delicate starter.

What it really is

A round puff pastry case bakes until it rises tall and hollow, its lid cut and lifted off separately so the case can be filled just before serving without turning soggy. The filling — poached chicken in chunks, small meatballs and button mushrooms — simmers in a creamy sauce made from butter, flour, chicken stock and cream, finished with lemon and parsley, until the sauce is thick enough to hold its shape once spooned into the case. The meatballs can be veal, pork, chicken or mixed mince, bound with egg and breadcrumbs. The lid goes back on top, or is served alongside for dipping into the extra sauce.

Not only a Brussels dish. It is common across Belgium, Flanders included, where it is also known as vidé or koninginnenhapje. French cuisine has its own chicken-and-mushroom vol-au-vents; the Belgian version, with small meatballs and plenty of sauce, developed as its own tradition and is built to be a filling main course, not an elegant starter.

How it's served

• Whole, the filled pastry case on a plate with extra sauce spooned around it.
• With fries (often with mayonnaise) or mashed potato alongside to soak up the sauce.
• As a main course, often a Sunday lunch staple in Belgian homes.

How to write it on the menu

• Declare wheat (pastry, flour, breadcrumbs), eggs (egg wash and/or meatballs), milk (butter, cream) and celery (the chicken stock is traditionally made with celery).
• Say what meats are in the filling: the meatballs can be veal, pork, chicken or mixed mince, and chicken-only and chicken-and-meatball versions both exist.
• Note that the pastry case is filled just before serving to stay crisp.