Prawn cocktail vol au vents

This year my husband and I were charged with the task of making the starter for the family Christmas dinner.  He suggested making a creative twist on his family's traditional starter (prawn cocktail) and suggested trying them as vol au vents. So with a little help from the instructions on the back of the pastry packet, we set to work.

Ingredients (makes 40):
500g packet pre-made puff pastry
1 egg, beaten
450g prawns, cooked and peeled
1 avacado
mayonnaise to taste
ketchup to taste
splash of lemon juice
splash of Worcester sauce
splash of hot sauce (optional; we used a Cajun jalapeño sauce from Louisiana)
ground paprika

Pre-heat the oven to 170 degrees Celsius. We have a fan oven, so the temperature for a normal oven would be 190 degrees. Roll the pastry out on a floured surface until it formed a rectangle about 30cm by 20cm and 5mm thick, then cut these into small circles.

Cutting pastry with a whisky glass

Once the pastry had been cut score a circle half way down, leaving a small border. This makes it easier to remove the centre once baked, meaning that the pastry case can then be filled. Place the pastry circles on a baking tray lined with baking paper and brush each circle with some beaten egg to give it a better colour once cooked.

Brushing with beaten egg

Bake the pastry until it has risen and is golden brown on top (about 12 minutes) at which point remove them from the oven, carefully peel away the baking paper and place them on a wire rack to cool. When they are cool enough to touch, run a knife around the pre-scored circle and that section should pop out easily. Then leave the pastry cases to cool completely.

Pastry before the removal of the centre...

...and after

While the pastry is cooling, make the prawn cocktail. Place the prawns in a medium sized bowl. We used king prawns which were slightly too large for the cases, so I cut them in half. To these add the ketchup, mayonnaise, Worcester sauce, lemon juice and hot sauce to suit your taste. The mixture should be quite wet, but not swimming in sauce. This can be left in the fridge for a few days, depending on when you need to use it.

To serve, peel the avacado and remove the stone, then slice into thin strips about the height of the pastry case. Place 3 or 4 of these strips into each case, spoon in a little of the prawn cocktail sauce, arrange 2 prawns inside the case and sprinkle with a little paprika. These vol au vents can be served either on a large platter or on individual plates as below, where some of the remaining prawn cocktail mixture has been placed on some thinly sliced avacado to bring the plate together.