Bastilla

About This Recipe

Bastilla (bisteeya) is considered one of the most complex and prestigious dishes in Moroccan and Arab cuisine. Shredded pigeon or chicken is cooked with eggs and cinnamon, layered with fried almonds and sugar, then enclosed in paper-thin warqa (or filo) pastry and baked until golden. The final dish is dusted with icing sugar and cinnamon — the contrast of sweet, savoury, and crunchy is extraordinary. It originated in Fes and remains a centrepiece at Moroccan celebrations.

Ingredients

Serves 6

• 1 kgchicken thighs(bone-in)
• 8 sheetsfilo pastry
• 200 gblanched almonds(toasted and roughly chopped)
• 4eggs(beaten)
• 2 largeonions(grated)
• 1 tspcinnamon
• ½ tspginger
• ½ tspsaffron(steeped in water)
• 3 tbspsugar
• 60 gbutter(melted)
• icing sugar and cinnamon(for dusting)

Instructions

1. 1

   Cook the chicken

   Braise chicken with onion, saffron, ginger, cinnamon and a little water for 45 minutes until very tender. Remove chicken, shred, and discard bones. Reduce the remaining liquid.

2. 2

   Make egg layer

   Add beaten eggs to the reduced broth over low heat, stirring to create loose, creamy scrambled egg. Season.

3. 3

   Prepare almonds

   Mix toasted almonds with sugar and a pinch of cinnamon.

4. 4

   Assemble the pie

   Butter a round oven tin. Layer 4 filo sheets overlapping and hanging over the edge. Layer: egg mixture, then shredded chicken, then almond mixture. Fold overhanging pastry over. Top with remaining 4 sheets, tucking edges under.

5. 5

   Bake

   Brush with butter. Bake at 180°C for 25 minutes until deep golden. Dust with icing sugar and draw cinnamon lines on top.

Variations

• •

  Seafood bastilla: prawn and fish filling is popular in coastal Morocco.

• •

  Mini individual bastillas make impressive starters.

Storage

Refrigerate up to 2 days. Reheat in the oven to restore crispiness.