Johnsonville Vol au Vent with Sausage in Mushroom Cream Sauce

Sometimes I’m fancy, and by “fancy” I mean shower regularly. Other times when I’m fancy it often involves food whether I’m cooking it or eating it. Using terms and phrases like like “vol au vent”, “brunoise” “translucent” and “holy shit that’s hot” will definitely make you feel like you know what you’re talking about and give the impression to your dinner guests that you’re a variable Daniel Boulud and know what you’re doing in the kitchen. One of my go to recipes when I’m feeling fancy is vol au vent. A really simple mixture of meat and vegetables with a cream sauce in a warm, flakey pastry shell, this dish is great for a dinner party to impress your friends and loved ones where you have to break out your cloth napkins… or a dinner with your family.

I had to opportunity to incorporate Johnsonville sausages in my recipe and I was pretty excited with the results and was eager to share this with you.

Johnsonville Vol au Vent with Sausage in Mushroom Cream Sauce
1 pkg. (13.23 ounces/375 g) package of Johnsonville Sweet Basil Italian Sausage Meat or decased links
1 cup potato, diced
½ cup onion, diced
1 cup carrot, diced
12 button mushrooms, quartered
½ cup milk
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 litre vegetable stock
1 can (540ml) ready-to-serve cream of mushroom soup
2 tbsp. all purpose flour, if needed
Coarse sea salt and fresh cracked black pepper to taste
Handful of chives, chopped
8 store-bought vol au vent pastry shells

PREPARATION


1.Roll the sausage into 1-inch meatballs (1 package will yield approximately 15-18). In a medium saucepan, bring the vegetable stock to a boil, and add meatballs. Once the stock returns to a boil, reduce the heat to medium. After 10 minutes, add the potato and carrots and continue to poach for another 10 minutes or until meatballs are cooked all the way through. Drain and set aside.

2.In a pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat and sauté the onions and mushrooms until the onions are translucent. Add the soup, milk, meatballs, carrots and potatoes. Simmer mixture for 5 minutes, mixing well so everything is incorporated. If the mixture seems too thin, stir in the flour and simmer for another 5 minutes until thick. Add salt and pepper to taste.

A relatively simple recipe that you can throw together when you’re feeling fancé. The inherent sweetness and spices used inthe sausage adds another level of flavour to the dish that’s complimented by the silky cream sauce and tender vegetables. The best part of the dish is when you break open the pastry shells and they soak up some of the sauce adding a luscious buttery bite to each mouthful.

3.Heat vol au vent pastry shells according to the instructions.
4.Spoon the sausage mixture into pastry shells, garnish with chives and serve immediately.