Chicken Thighs in Puff Pastry Cases Draft

How I make it

Pastry cases

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).

2. Take a pastry square and cut a smaller square inside it with a knife, leaving a ¼-inch (½ cm) border on every side, like a frame. Remove the inner square.

3. Repeat with 4 more squares.

4. Brush the edges of the whole squares with beaten egg. Lay a frame on each whole square and brush the top with egg.

5. Bake for about 30 minutes, until golden. Make the filling while they bake.

Filling

1. Cut each chicken thigh into 3 pieces.

2. Fry the green onions in the olive oil until golden and take them off the heat.

3. Dredge the chicken in the flour and brown well.

4. Add the white wine, water, tomato, garlic, olives and thyme and cook for 5 more minutes.

Sauce

1. Sweat the onions, garlic and celery root in the olive oil.

2. Add the rest of the sauce ingredients and simmer for 40 minutes.

3. Take off the heat and purée in a food processor until smooth.

Assembly

1. Fill each warm pastry case with chicken and a little sauce.

2. Garnish with green onion and serve.

What I've learned

• I make the sauce ahead.
• I brush the cut-out inner squares with egg yolk, sprinkle them with Parmesan and bake at 400°F (200°C) until golden, as a separate snack. With the Parmesan they're dairy, so I don't serve them with the chicken.
• Other fillings work too: fish in mushrooms, chicken livers in wine, or stir-fried vegetables.
• For a deeper case, I prick the whole square with a fork or roll it a little thinner.