Hoendervlegsel (Chicken Pastry)
Hoendervlegsel
The real moment was the pastry. Watching our mums rolling it out, cutting the strips down the sides, and then weaving them over the filling one by one had a rhythm of its own. Not rushed, not delicate — just steady, like plaiting hair or tying a rope. Each strip tucked neatly over the next until the whole thing looked like a tidy braid, the kind of kitchen work that felt both practical and a little bit special.
In the oven, the braid puffed and deepened in colour, the seams turning crisp while the filling stayed soft underneath. When sliced, the layers held together just enough to show the pattern, the steam carrying the scent of chicken and herbs. A simple dish, but one that always felt like it had been made with intention.
Ingredients
- Pastry:
- 2 cups plain flour
- 2.5 tsp baking powder
- 4 ml salt
- 250 g butter
- 250 g Quark (1 tub)
- Filling:
- 1 kg chicken, cut into portions and diced
- 60 g butter
- 1 onion, chopped
- 4 celery sticks, diced
- 250 g mushrooms, sliced
- Seasoning to taste
- Filling sauce:
- 60 g butter
- 2 tbsp flour
- 2 cups milk
- 125 g grated cheese
Method
- Preheat the oven to 180°C.
- For the pastry:
- Sift the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, salt). Cream the butter and Quark together and add into the sifted dry ingredients, then chill the pastry for 1 hour in the fridge.
- For the filling:
- Fry the diced chicken in 60 g butter until browned, remove. Fry the onion, celery and mushrooms in the same pan, season and combine with the chicken.
- For the sauce:
- Melt 60 g butter, add the flour and whisk in 2 cups milk; simmer until thick. Remove from heat and stir in the grated cheese.
- To assemble:
- Combine the sauce with the chicken and vegetable filling mixture.
- Roll out the chilled pastry. Spread the filling along the middle third.
- Brush the side edges with beaten egg white.
- Cut 15 mm strips from the pastry edges up to the filling. Starting at one end, braid the strips over the filling to enclose it.
- Brush the braid with beaten egg yolk.
- Bake at 180°C for about 35 minutes until golden.