If your French you have probably grown up with this. Les Bouchés à la reine are one of those old French recipe that you can still find in pretty much every traiteur in France.

This puff pastry cup is filled with a chicken and vegetables in a béchamel. It’s a bit the French version of a chicken pot pie.

I hadn’t made this recipe in a long time and working this weekend with puff pastry, it got me thinking about les bouchés à la reine.

This version is made with chicken but you can substitute it for seafood, clams, scallops are the most commun.

Start by cooking two chicken breast in a pan. You want to get some color on the meat but you want to keep it almost pink in the middle. Take them out of the pan and set aside.

In the same pan, add a mirepoix (1 carrot, 1 stalk of celery, 1/2 onion) cook on a medium heat until they are fork tender. Add some salt and pepper, a 1/2 cup of white wine and let the wine reduce.

Then add 1 1/2 cup of mushroom, today I only found some brown mushroom but any will do. I love using morels for this dish!

Add a cup of chicken stock, a handful of fresh peas and let reduce.

Most people would start the béchamel in the same pan, but I find easier to do it aside, as I can get the right consistency. 

I made my béchamel with butter, flower and heavy cream for this recipe. I like the consistency to be on the thick side so it doesn’t make the puff pastry soggy as I serve it.

Add the chicken diced back to the pan and add the béchamel on top and mix over a low heat. The chicken should just finish cooking for a couple minutes. I have noticed that adding it at the last minute will keep the meat moist.

For the puff pastry cup, you want to use 2 sheets on top of one another. Make sure you rub the dough with some water to have them stick to one another. Then use a cookie cutter and carve 4 circles. Using a smaller cookie cutter you want to mark the top of the dough, as seen on the picture, but don’t push it all the way. This will allow the top to separate and will make it easier for you to cut it off. Brush with an egg wash, sprinkle with a bit of herbes de provence and put them in the oven at 420° until golden brown.

Then with scissors remove the top and cut the inside if there is extra dough in the center leaving more room for the filling.

Add some fresh chopped parsley and garlic to the Bechamel/chicken mixture and fill in your bouché à la reine. Top with a little gruyere and broil for few seconds.

Serve with a nice salad.

Bon Appétit!