Vol-au-Vent à la Bruxelloise

Vol-au-vent à la Bruxelloise is a puff pastry shell filled with chicken, small meatballs and mushrooms in a creamy sauce. The airy pastry case itself is a 19th-century French invention, but the substantial, meat-and-mushroom filling that Brussels built inside it turned the dish into something considerably heartier than its French original — a full meal rather than a delicate starter.

What it really is

A round puff pastry shell bakes until it puffs up tall and hollow, its lid cut and lifted separately so the case can be filled just before serving without the pastry turning soggy. The filling — poached chicken pulled into chunks, small pork or veal meatballs, and button mushrooms — simmers together in a rich cream sauce until everything's warmed through and the sauce has thickened enough to hold its shape once spooned into the shell. The lid goes back on top, or is served alongside for dipping into the extra sauce.

The pastry case is French; the dish inside it is not. Belgian vol-au-vent is filled far more heavily than the classic French version, which tends toward lighter fillings like seafood or a single meat — the Bruxelloise version is built to be a filling main course, not an elegant starter.

How it's served

• Whole, the filled pastry shell on a plate with extra sauce spooned around it.
• With fries 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

• Flag the wheat in the pastry, the egg in the pastry dough, and the dairy in the cream sauce.
• Say what meats are in the filling, since chicken-only and chicken-and-meatball versions both exist.
• Note that the pastry needs to be filled just before serving to stay crisp.

The ingredients, allergens and dietary notes listed here describe a typical recipe. They are not a binding declaration for any particular restaurant: recipes, portion sizes and the products used can differ.