Potato, Porcini and Comté Pithivier
By M&S Food
Published on 02 January 2024
Impress your guests with Rosemary Shrager’s showstopping veg-packed pithivier. Created for TV cookery competition Cooking With The Stars, brought to you by M&S Food this is sure to bring the wow-factor to dinner. Beurre blanc is a classic French sauce, made here with butter, white wine, vinegar, lemon and a dash of cream, and is also delicious with fish dishes. To get ahead, you can assemble the pithivier a few hours ahead, chill and bake when you are ready to serve. Looking for more bread recipes? Look no further.Time and servings
2 hrsTotal time
4Servings
1 hrPrep time
1 hrCooking time
Ingredients
- 30g dried porcini mushrooms
- 2 Maris Piper potatoes
- 1 litre vegetable stock
- 225g salted butter, cold
- 2 shallots, finely chopped
- 2 tbsp thyme leaves, chopped
- 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 25g flat-leaf parsley, leaves chopped
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 150g chestnut mushrooms, finely chopped
- 30g Comté cheese, grated
- 500g all-butter puff pastry
- 2 free-range eggs, yolks only, beaten
- 1 tbsp white wine vinegar
- 50ml white wine
- 100g unsalted butter, cold, cubed
- 1 tbsp double cream
- ½ lemon, juice only, plus 1 tsp
- 2 leeks, finely sliced
- 200g petits pois
- 100g frozen broad beans
- 180g asparagus spears
- 100g pea shoots
Method
Step 1
For the filling: Put the dried mushrooms in a small bowl and cover with freshly boiled water. Leave to soak for 15 mins or until softened.Step 2
Meanwhile, cut the potatoes into 1cm slices, then use a 6cm pastry cutter to cut each slice into rounds - you will need 24 slices.Step 3
Pour the stock into a medium saucepan and bring to the boil. Add the potato slices and cook for 5 mins until tender but still firm. Drain well and leave to cool.Step 4
Melt 2 tbsp of butter in a small frying pan, add the shallot, thyme leaves and garlic and sauté for 5 mins or until softened. Add the parsley and some seasoning, transfer to a bowl and cover. Chill.Step 5
Drain the porcini mushrooms, rinse carefully with fresh water to remove any excess dirt then finely chop. Heat the olive oil in a medium frying pan, add the porcini and chestnut mushrooms, season well and sauté until all the liquid has evaporated and they are dry. Add 75g butter and cook until the mushrooms are caramelised and golden brown. Tip into a bowl, cover and chill.Step 6
Now build the pithivier filling. Put a 6cm pastry cutter or tall chefs rings on a square of baking parchment. Add a potato disc, a little of the shallot/garlic mixture, 1 tbsp grated Comté and 1 tbsp mushroom mixture, then repeat these layers using 6 discs of potatoes in total. Press down firmly. Repeat this layering process again in three more pastry cutters/ rings and chill.Step 7
Heat the oven to 220°C/200°C fan/ gas 6. Set a large baking sheet on the middle shelf to heat up.Step 8
Roll out the puff pastry to a 3-4mm thickness, then cut out 4 x 9cm pastry rounds and 4 x 12cm rounds.Step 9
Put the 9cm pastry circles onto a baking sheet lined with baking paper. Top with one ring of filling and carefully remove. Brush the pastry edges with the beaten egg yolk. Top with a 12cm pastry disc, then smooth the pastry down the sides of the stacks, squeezing out the air as you go and closing it at the bottom. Crimp the base with the tines of a fork to seal the pastry together and brush egg yolk all over. Repeat to create 4 pithiviers.Step 10
Cut a small hole in the top of the pastry to release steam as it cooks. Using a 7cm cutter, trim away the excess pastry from the base, leaving a small lip. Brush the pastries with the egg yolk again and season. Score the domes of the pithiviers for decoration and put them on baking paper on the hot baking sheet. Bake for 20-25 mins until golden brown.Step 11
While the pithivier are cooking, make the beurre blanc sauce. Cube 100g cold butter. Heat the vinegar and white wine in a small pan and reduce to 1 tbsp of liquid left. Remove from the heat and whisk in the cold butter, one cube at a time, making sure each piece of butter is completely melted before adding the next. Set back over a gentle heat if the sauce gets too cool. Stir in the double cream and 1 tsp lemon juice and season to taste.Step 12
To make the garnish, you can use the same pan that you cooked the mushrooms in. Melt 1 tbsp butter and add the leeks. Sauté for a few minutes then add the peas, broad beans and a splash of water. Blanch the asparagus in boiling water and add to the pan with the remaining 1 tbsp butter, juice ½ lemon and some seasoning.Step 13
To serve, use the vibrant green garnish to make a decorative circle on the plate and drizzle over the beurre blanc. Place the pithivier into the centre of the circle, and garnish with pea shoots