Chicken Alfredo Cups

Tender, Creamy, Wrapped in Gold

There is something quietly celebratory about a dish that holds itself together — that contains its richness within clean, golden edges. These little cups ask you to slow down over a simple roux, to stir until the sauce turns silky, and to trust the oven's patient heat to do the rest. They are the kind of thing you bring to a table full of people and set down without fanfare, and somehow that restraint is exactly what makes them disappear.

Ingredients

• 1 pound chicken, cooked and shredded
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 1 1/2 cups whole milk
• Alessi Sea Salt and Ground Black Pepper, to taste
• 1 teaspoon Alessi Garlic Puree
• 1 1/2 cups shredded Parmesan
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 tablespoon Alessi Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1 17.3oz package frozen puff pastry sheets, thawed

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400.
2. In a heavy bottomed pot, melt butter on medium heat.
3. Add flour 1 tablespoon at a time, stirring until all lumps are gone.
4. Pour in milk and season with salt and pepper.
5. Cook over medium heat stirring occasionally until mixture is thick and smooth.
6. Add garlic and Parmesan cheese and stir until melted.
7. Remove from heat.
8. Add chicken to cheese sauce and let cool to room temperature then stir in egg.
9. Grease 18 muffin tin cups, blotting any excess with a paper towel.
10. Cut puff pastry sheets into 3 equal strips, then cut strips into 3 equal squares for a total of 18 squares.
11. Place squares into muffin tins, pressing into bottom and sides.
12. Divide chicken filling among each cup.
13. Bake until puffy and golden brown, about 20 minutes. Let cool and use a knife to loosen pastry pockets from tins.