Cream cheese pithiviers

Makes 4 Starters and mains

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Method

For the puff pastry, mix the flour, paprika, 1tsp salt, baking powder and butter in a bowl. Stir in the milk and combine into a squishy, lumpy dough. Sprinkle the work surface with flour and roll the dough into a rectangle measuring about 16 x 30cm. Fold the top third of the pastry down towards you and the lower third away from you, as you would fold a letter. Rotate the dough by 90 degrees and do the same again. Wrap the dough in cling film and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes. Then roll out the pastry again and fold twice as before. Rewrap it in cling film and chill for another 30 minutes. Repeat the rolling and folding, then chill again, while you prepare the filling.

For the filling, heat the oil in a sauté pan. Add the leek, onion and pancetta and cook over a medium heat for 10 minutes. Spoon this into a bowl and add the peas and carrots. Add the chives, cream cheese and Gruyère and a little sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, then check the seasoning. Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/Gas 6.

Take the chilled pastry and roll it out as thinly as you can before it tears. Cut 4 x 15cm circles and 4 x 16cm circles. You’ll find that you will have to re-roll the pastry twice, but you should be able to get 8 circles with a tiny snippet left over. Place the 15cm circles on a baking sheet.

Spoon 2tbsp of the filling mixture on to each, leaving a margin of 1.5cm around the edge. Using a pastry brush, paint the margins with the eggwash, then lay the bigger circles on top. Brush the pithiviers with the rest of the eggwash and bake in the oven for 20 minutes. Serve with a green salad.