By Easter in the apartment. Just the four of us, Nora eleven days old, Liam in his Sunday best that he insisted on putting on himself. My parents on FaceTime from Dorchester, both of them in the kitchen together, my mother tearing up a little when she saw Nora for the first time over the phone. "She looks like you did," my mother said to me. I don't know if that's true but I'm keeping it.
Sean made Easter dinner. I want to record this clearly: Sean Donovan, who grew up watching his mother produce holiday meals and who absorbed the general principle, made an Easter dinner from scratch this year while I was twelve days postpartum in a locked-down apartment. Roast chicken—my mother's recipe, which he now knows as well as I do—roasted potatoes, asparagus from the grocery delivery. He set the table. He put a candle on it. He found the Easter basket he'd hidden for Liam last week when we were still assuming we'd do the family gathering.
Liam did an egg hunt in the apartment. There were eleven eggs. It took him seven minutes and he found all of them and was completely satisfied with the outcome. Nora slept through the hunt in the bouncer with the expression of someone who has reserved judgment.
I ate dinner sitting sideways on the couch because the dining room chair still didn't work perfectly at two weeks postpartum. Sean brought me a plate. We ate and watched Liam eat his Easter candy with the methodical attention of a child who has done an inventory and is working through it systematically. Happy Easter in the apartment. We're fine.
Sean used my mother’s roast chicken as his north star that day, but this Chicken in Puff Pastry is the version I’ve come back to since — the same spirit of a chicken dinner that feels like it means something, wrapped in something golden and a little celebratory. It’s the kind of recipe that looks like you tried harder than you did, which is exactly right for an Easter in a locked-down apartment where a candle on the table already counted as decorating. If your Sean, or your version of Sean, is ever looking for a place to start, this is it.
Chicken in Puff Pastry
Prep Time: 20 min | Cook Time: 30 min | Total Time: 50 min | Servings: 4
Ingredients
- 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 6 oz each)
- 1 sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed
- 4 oz cream cheese, softened
- 2 tablespoons fresh chives, finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 egg, beaten (for egg wash)
- 1 tablespoon water
Instructions
- Preheat. Heat oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Make the filling. In a small bowl, combine softened cream cheese, chives, garlic powder, and onion powder. Mix until smooth and set aside.
- Prep the chicken. Pat chicken breasts dry. Season both sides with salt and pepper. Brush the top of each breast lightly with Dijon mustard.
- Cut the pastry. Unfold the thawed puff pastry on a lightly floured surface. Cut into 4 equal rectangles, each large enough to wrap one chicken breast with a 1-inch overlap.
- Assemble. Spread about 2 tablespoons of the cream cheese mixture onto the center of each pastry rectangle. Place one chicken breast, mustard-side down, on top of the filling. Fold the pastry up and around the chicken, pressing the seams firmly to seal. Place seam-side down on the prepared baking sheet.
- Egg wash. Whisk the beaten egg with 1 tablespoon water. Brush the top and sides of each pastry bundle generously. Score the tops lightly with a sharp knife if desired.
- Bake. Bake for 25–30 minutes, until the pastry is deep golden brown and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the chicken reads 165°F. Let rest 5 minutes before serving.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 520 | Protein: 39g | Fat: 29g | Carbs: 24g | Fiber: 1g | Sodium: 490mg