Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume 2 (60 page)

Immediately place
vol-au-vent
in lower middle level of preheated oven and bake at 425 degrees for about 20 minutes, until the pastry has tripled in height and is beginning to brown. Lower thermostat to 350 degrees and bake 30 to 40 minutes longer, until sides are brown and crisp. If pastry is coloring too much, lay a sheet of aluminum foil or heavy brown paper loosely over the top.

3)
Final touches

As soon as you remove the
vol-au-vent
from the oven and while it is still hot, cut around the inside edge of the ring to remove the cover you marked in the bottom
disk; this has now risen, along with the rest of the dough. (Cover will probably break and should be eaten by the cook, who must sample the pastry anyway.)

Being very careful not to pierce sides or bottom of crust, scrape uncooked pastry out of vol-au-vent with the tines of a table fork or the handle of a spoon
. (You may turn this into a cheese ramequin, but you should use it while still fresh; see following recipe.)

Set
vol-au-vent
again on its pastry sheet and put in the oven for 5 minutes, to dry out, then let cool on a rack. If bottom of pastry burned or darkened unduly during baking, shave off the discolored part with a sharp knife.

Storing and reheating

If you have a warming oven, set it at around 100 degrees where pastry will keep for a day or two, drying and crisping to a delicious texture. Otherwise, the sooner you can eat the
vol-au-vent
the better, unless you are going to wrap it airtight and freeze, where it will keep for several weeks. To reheat cold or frozen
vol-au-vent
, set on a lightly buttered pastry sheet in a preheated 425-degree oven for 5 minutes, then turn oven off and leave a few minutes more, until crisp.

FOR THE UNCOOKED INSIDES OF THE VOL-AU-VENT

Ramequin du Juste Milieu

[A Hot Puffed Cheese Dish to Serve as an Entrée or in Place of Potatoes]

For 4 to 6 servings

The fresh, preferably still warm uncooked insides of a
vol-au-vent
(usually ⅓ to ½ cup, pressed)

1 cup milk

2 eggs

Salt, pepper, and nutmeg ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese

A 3- to 4-cup baking and serving dish about 1½ inches deep, lightly buttered

Purée the uncooked pastry and milk for a minute or so in an electric blender until perfectly smooth. Add eggs, seasonings, and cheese and purée 5 seconds. Pour into buttered dish.

(*)
DELAYED-ACTION NOTE:
May now be covered and refrigerated until the next day.