Morocco's spectacular festive pie — flaky warqa pastry layered with spiced shredded chicken, egg, and cinnamon-dusted almond cream.
Pastilla (بسطيلة), also called b'stilla or bisteeya, is one of the great showpieces of Moroccan cuisine — a dish that embodies the Moorish culinary tradition of combining savory and sweet, rich and delicate, in a single extraordinary creation. Historically made with pigeon (squab), the more accessible modern version uses chicken: shredded slow-braised meat spiced with saffron, ginger, cinnamon, and fresh herbs, layered with scrambled eggs cooked in the braising juices, then encased in paper-thin warqa pastry (or phyllo as a substitute) and covered with a thick cloud of fried almond cream sweetened with sugar and cinnamon. The finished pie is baked until shatteringly crispy, then dusted with powdered sugar and crossed with lines of cinnamon. Cutting through the golden crust at the table — revealing steaming layers of fragrant chicken, silky egg, and crunchy almonds — is one of the great theatrical moments in world cuisine. It is served at Moroccan weddings and celebrations, a labor of love that signals the highest hospitality.
Serves 6
In a wide pot, heat olive oil over medium. Add grated onions and cook until golden. Add chicken, saffron water, ginger, cinnamon, turmeric, salt, and half the herbs. Add 200 ml water. Cover and braise 45 minutes until chicken is very tender.
The braising liquid should be quite concentrated — if too much liquid remains, simmer uncovered to reduce.
Remove chicken and shred meat finely, discarding bones and skin. Return the braising juices to medium heat and reduce until syrupy — about 150 ml should remain.
Beat eggs and pour into the reduced braising liquid. Stir over low heat until curds form and the mixture is just set — not dry. Add remaining fresh herbs, stir, remove from heat.
Fry blanched almonds in oil until golden. Drain, cool, and grind coarsely with icing sugar and cinnamon in a food processor — pulse to a rough, crumbly mixture, not a paste.
Butter a 28 cm round baking dish. Layer 6 phyllo sheets, each brushed with butter, overlapping and allowing edges to overhang. Spread shredded chicken evenly. Add egg layer. Spread almond mixture evenly on top.
Work with phyllo quickly and keep unused sheets covered with a damp towel to prevent drying.
Fold the overhanging phyllo edges over the filling. Brush top remaining phyllo sheets with butter, crumple slightly, and arrange over the pie. Brush the entire top with butter.
Bake at 190°C for 30–35 minutes until deeply golden and crisp. Remove from oven. Dust generously with icing sugar and draw cinnamon lines over the top in a lattice or cross pattern. Serve hot.
Warqa pastry, the authentic Moroccan paper-thin dough, is far superior to phyllo but nearly impossible to find outside Morocco — use high-quality phyllo and brush each sheet generously with butter.
The almond layer must be ground coarse, not fine — it should retain crunch against the soft chicken and egg.
The sugar-cinnamon topping is not optional decoration: it is fundamental to the sweet-savory character of the dish.
Seafood pastilla: a popular Moroccan restaurant adaptation using shrimp, squid, and vermicelli noodles instead of chicken.
Pigeon pastilla: the original, more gamey and richer version using 3–4 squab pigeons.
Mini pastillas: individual one-portion triangular pastillas popular at modern Moroccan restaurants.
Pastilla is best eaten immediately from the oven. Leftovers can be refrigerated 2 days and reheated at 180°C for 10 minutes to restore some crispiness. Do not microwave — the pastry becomes leathery.
Pastilla traces its lineage directly to the Andalusian Moorish cuisine brought to Morocco when Muslims were expelled from Spain between the 12th and 17th centuries. The original pigeon version was documented in Moroccan court cookbooks of the 16th century. The dish's name likely derives from the Spanish pastilla (small pie), reflecting its Iberian heritage. Fez, the cultural capital of Morocco, remains most closely associated with its preparation.
Absolutely — the icing sugar and cinnamon dusting is an essential element, not a modern affectation. It reflects the Moorish-Andalusian culinary tradition of combining sweet and savory in the same dish. Do not omit it.
You can braise the chicken and prepare all three layers a day ahead and refrigerate them. Assemble and bake just before serving — assembled unbaked pastilla can sit in the fridge for a few hours.
Warqa is an ultra-thin Moroccan pastry made by dabbing a wet dough onto a hot surface in overlapping circles to build up a single translucent sheet. It is thinner and more delicate than phyllo. It is available at some Moroccan specialty grocers but difficult to find elsewhere.
Per serving (380g / 13.4 oz) · 6 servings total
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