Chestnut and Cheese en Croûte

This chestnut and cheese en croute is a vegetarian main dish packed with lots of flavors. Wrapped in a buttery flaky crust, it makes for a great dish to serve at a special occasion.

• 3 garlic cloves
• 500g of leeks
• 240g bag of baby spinach
• 415g of chestnut puree
• 3 eggs
• ½ nutmeg
• 200g of chestnuts
• 85g of breadcrumbs
• 200g of Shropshire cheese
• 500g of all-butter puff pastry

For the sauce

• 500ml vegetable stock
• 2 leeks
• 300ml of double cream
• 1 tbsp of cornflour

Chestnut and Cheese en Croûte

First of all, melt the butter into a large frying pan, then add the garlic and leeks and stir well. Cover and cook for 10 minutes until they soften then tip them into a bowl. Wilt the spinach into the pan, then drain it of liquid and set it aside. Toss the chestnut puree into the bowl over the leeks, add the eggs, chestnuts, nutmeg, spinach, breadcrumbs and cheese. Season and stir until well mixed then let it chill for one hour.

Secondly, heat the oven to 220 degrees C. Flour a work surface then roll out the pastry into a large rectangle. Place the pastry onto a baking tray and then spoon out the filling in the center, leaving the ends bare. Tuck the ends over the filling and wrap them around. Make some holes in the dough so the steam can escape. Bake for 40 minutes.

Next, for the sauce, heat the stock into a medium pan. Add the leeks and cook for 5 minutes then scoop out two tablespoons. Toss the rest into the pan with the cornflour and use a hand blender to mince them. Pour the cream and continue cooking until the sauce thickens.

Lastly, serve the slices of the pastry with drizzles of sauce.