Pastilla (Moroccan Pigeon Pie)

About This Recipe

One of the most spectacular dishes in Moroccan cuisine, pastilla wraps layers of crispy warka pastry (or phyllo) around a sweet-savoury filling of spiced chicken (or pigeon), egg, cinnamon, and toasted almonds, dusted with icing sugar and cinnamon.

Ingredients

Serves 6

• 800 gchicken thighs, bone-in
• 2 pcsonions, grated
• 3 tbspfresh coriander, chopped
• 3 tbspfresh parsley, chopped
• 1 tspground ginger
• 1 tspground cinnamon
• 1 pinchsaffron threads
• 4 pcseggs, beaten
• 200 gblanched almonds, toasted and roughly chopped
• 3 tbspicing sugar, plus extra for dusting
• 8 sheetsphyllo pastry
• 80 gbutter, melted
• 2 tbspvegetable oil
• 1 tspsalt
• 1 tspground cinnamon (for dusting)

Instructions

1. 1

   Cook chicken

   Simmer chicken with onion, coriander, parsley, ginger, cinnamon, saffron, oil, and salt with enough water to just cover, for 40 minutes until very tender. Remove chicken, shred meat from bones. Reserve cooking liquid.

2. 2

   Make egg filling

   Reduce cooking liquid until only about 150ml remains. Add beaten eggs and stir over medium heat until set into a slightly dry scramble. Cool.

3. 3

   Prep almonds

   Mix toasted almonds with 2 tbsp icing sugar and 0.5 tsp cinnamon.

4. 4

   Layer pastry base

   Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F). Brush a 26 cm round cake tin or tart tin with butter. Layer 5 phyllo sheets in the tin, brushing each with butter and letting them overhang the edges.

5. 5

   Fill and seal

   Layer: almond mixture, then egg filling, then shredded chicken. Fold overhanging pastry over the filling. Top with remaining phyllo sheets, tucking edges under neatly. Brush top generously with butter.

6. 6

   Bake and decorate

   Bake for 30–35 minutes until deep golden. Remove from tin, dust generously with icing sugar. Using a fine sieve, draw a cinnamon lattice pattern on top. Serve immediately.

Variations

• •

  Use duck instead of chicken for a richer filling.

• •

  Make individual small pastillas as an elegant starter.

Storage

Serve fresh. Leftovers keep 2 days — reheat in oven at 160°C to restore crispness.