Pastilla

Name: Pastilla
Prep time: 45 min
Cook time: 1 h
Total time: 1 h 45 min
Yield: 8 servings
Cuisine: Morocco
Ingredients: 1 whole chicken or 2 pigeons; 2 large onions, grated; 1 tsp each ground ginger, cinnamon, saffron; small bunch fresh coriander and parsley; 6 eggs, beaten; 150g blanched almonds, toasted and roughly ground; 4 tbsp icing sugar; 2 tsp ground cinnamon (for dusting); 12 sheets brick pastry or filo; 100g butter, melted

Morocco

Pastilla is served at the most important Moroccan celebrations. It was originally made with pigeon in Fez and remains one of the most technically demanding dishes in Moroccan cuisine.

Morocco's extraordinary sweet-savoury pie — spiced pigeon or chicken with eggs and almonds wrapped in crisp warqa pastry, dusted with cinnamon sugar. A dish of pure theatre.

Prep

45 mins

Cook

1 hr

Difficulty

Hard

Calories

565 kcal

Serves

Calories are an estimate based on ingredients used

Ingredients

1 wholechicken or 2 pigeons

2 largeonions, grated

1 tsp eachground ginger, cinnamon, saffron

small bunchfresh coriander and parsley

6eggs, beaten

150gblanched almonds, toasted and roughly ground

4 tbspicing sugar

2 tspground cinnamon (for dusting)

12 sheetsbrick pastry or filo

100gbutter, melted

Method

Poach chicken or pigeon with onion, spices and herbs until very tender. Remove and shred meat.

Reduce cooking liquid. Add beaten eggs and scramble gently into the sauce. Cool.

Layer 6 buttered pastry sheets in a round tin. Add egg mixture, then meat, then almonds mixed with sugar and cinnamon.

Fold over pastry and top with remaining sheets, tucking in edges.

Brush with butter. Bake at 200C until deep golden.

Dust with icing sugar and draw a cinnamon lattice pattern.

Chef's Tip

The contrast of sweet icing sugar dusting over savoury spiced meat is the defining characteristic — do not skip it.

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Pastilla

Ingredients

Method

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