Preparation time is 1 hour
Ease of preparation is easy
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients
- 2 chicken breasts
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 celery root
- 2 parsnips
- 2 carrots
- 4 sticks celery
- 1 red onion, diced
- 230 grams all-purpose flour
- 2 ounces butter
- 2 ounces flour
- 750 milliliters milk
- 4 ounces asiago cheese, grated or broken up
- 2 sprigs tarragon, chopped
- 2 sprigs thyme, leaves removed
- 1 cup frozen green peas
- 1 packet puff pastry
- 2 eggs, beaten with a fork
For the herb crust:
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 6 tablespoons chilled unsalted butter
- 1 beaten egg
- ¾ cup buttermilk
- Tarragon and thyme leaves
- ½ cup Asiago cheese
Directions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit
- Cut the chicken into cubes and sauté, with the diced red onion, over a medium heat until slightly browned.
- Remove and keep aside.
- Peel and dice the celery root, the parsnips, the carrots and the celery. Blanch in salted boiling water for a minute and a half. Drain and refresh.
- Meanwhile melt the butter and slowly stir in the sifted flour over a medium heat.
- Add the milk, stirring all the time to ensure that no lumps form.
- Once the milk is incorporated and no lumps have formed, bring the liquid to a boil and simmer for a few minutes, or until the starchy taste has gone. Remove the sauce from the heat and stir in the asagio cheese and the tarragon and thyme, keeping a few leaves of the herbs aside. Season to taste. Stir in the blanched vegetables and the chicken and onions. Add the peas.
- For the pastry, combine the flour, salt, baking powder.
- Cut the butter into the flour.
- Add the herbs and some Asiago cheese to the mix. In a separate bowl beat the egg with a fork and add the buttermilk. Add this liquid to the flour and butter mixture. On a floured surface, roll out the herb crust.
- Cut out pie tops with a cookie cutter.
- Fill large individual ramekins with the chicken mixture. Top with a round of puff pastry. Cut a small hole in the centre to allow the steam to escape. Brush with the beaten eggs. Place in the 400 degree oven for 35 minutes or until the crust is well browned.