With homemade puff pastry

This pithivier recipe is deliciously addictive filled with a creamy bechamel, ham and cheese. It’s extra delicious with my homemade puff pastry recipe.

INGREDIENTS

• 500 g (1.1 lbs) home made easy puff pastry

• 3 to 4 slices of ham medium thickness

• 80 g (2.8 oz) grated cheese. I used comte but you can use any cheese, even blue cheese if you like.

• 1 portion of bechamel.

• Egg wash – egg with a bit of salt.

For the bechamel:

• 25 g (0.8 oz) butter

• 25 g (0.8 oz) flour

• 250 ml (1 cup) whole milk (full cream)

• Salt for seasoning

• Pepper for seasoning

• Nutmeg for seasoning.

NOTES

• For the cling wrap, I use a 100% Certified Compostable Cling Wrap sourced online to avoid using plastic. These days you can buy the more sustainable stuff in most supermarkets.

PROCEDURE

1. To make the bechamel, melt the butter in a pan on medium heat and stir in the flour, reduce the heat and cook the mix for 2 minutes.

2. Reduce the heat to low (or even turn it off all together). Add a portion of the milk and whisk in, then whisk in the rest of the milk.

3. Raise the heat to medium-low and keep stirring until the sauce thickens.While stirring, season with salt and pepper and the grated nutmeg. Keep whisking until the sauce comes to a boil, reduce the heat and leave to boil slowly for 2 minutes.

4. Taste the sauce and if necessary adjust the seasoning. Spread the sauce on a cold tray and place in the fridge to cool down (after completely covering the sauce closely in cling wrap so that it doesn’t crust).

5. Preheat the oven (fan forced) to 180 °C (356 °F).

6. On a surface dusted with flour, roll out the puff pastry to a thickness of about 4mm (0.15 inches).

7. Cut out a circle of pastry of about 18 cm (7 inches) diameter, and then cut a second circle of a slightly larger diameter – say an extra 4 mm – and keep the larger portion in the fridge.

8. Place the smaller piece on a greased baking tray.

9. All the while ensuring that a strip of about 2 cm (3/4 inch) width in from the circumference of the circle remains clean and with nothing on it, place some ham on the pastry followed by about a tablespoon of the bechamel spread on top of the ham and then sprinkle some grated cheese over the bechamel. Repeat the process twice.

10. Brush the outside 2 cm of the pastry with egg wash. Be careful not to use too much of the egg wash.

11. Remove the second pastry portion from the fridge and place over the filling. Firmly press into the egg wash so that it becomes sealed to the bottom portion. Cut away the outer strip of the sealed pastry to leave just the sealed pithivier.

12. Carefully indent the circumference of the pithivier with the back of a knife to scallop the edge.

13. Brush the pastry with egg wash and if desired decorate with spiral lines before placing into the pre-heated oven. Cook for 30 minutes.