Pastilla
بسطيلة (bastilla), Fez
A crackling pie of spiced chicken, saffron eggs, and almonds, finished with a snowfall of powdered sugar and cinnamon. Sugar on a meat pie sounds like an accident. In Fez it is the whole point.
The filling is deeply savory: slow-cooked onions, ginger, saffron, and eggs scrambled into reduced braising broth. The thin layer of sugared almonds works like a condiment, hitting first and dissolving into the spice, roughly what chutney does for a curry. Crisp pastry keeps every bite in contrast rather than letting it all blur together.
Pastilla's roots are usually traced to al-Andalus, carried to North Africa by Muslims and Jews expelled from Spain, and the name itself comes from a Spanish word for pastry. Fez claims the definitive version, built on warqa, tissue-thin leaves cooked on a hot dome, and traditionally filled with squab rather than chicken.
It is celebration food: weddings, engagement dinners, honored guests, and Ramadan tables, usually served as a grand first course. Pigeon versions survive in restaurants, chicken rules home kitchens, and coastal cities make a seafood pastilla that drops the sugar entirely.
Ingredients
- 700 g (about 1.5 lb) boneless, skinless chicken thighsbone-in adds flavor, just pick the meat afterward
- 3 tbsp olive oil or butter
- 2 medium onions, finely chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 1.5 tsp ground cinnamonplus more for dusting
- 1/2 tsp ground turmeric
- 1 pinch saffron threadsoptional but traditional
- 1 small bunch flat-leaf parsley and cilantro, chopped
- 4 eggs, beaten
- 150 g (1.5 cups) blanched almonds
- 3 tbsp powdered sugarplus more for dusting
- 1 tsp orange blossom wateroptional
- 10 sheets phyllo dough, thawedwarqa if you can get it
- 100 g (7 tbsp) butter, melted
- 1 egg yolkfor sealing and glazing
- to taste salt and black pepper
Method
- Warm the oil in a wide pot and cook the onions with the ginger, cinnamon, turmeric, saffron, salt, and pepper until soft and golden, about 10 minutes.
- Add the chicken, garlic, herbs, and enough water to come halfway up the meat, then cover and simmer 30 to 35 minutes until tender.
- Lift out the chicken and shred it once cool enough to handle.
- Boil the braising liquid down to about 250 ml (1 cup), drop the heat to low, and stir in the beaten eggs a little at a time until they set into thick, dryish curds; tip into a sieve to drain, since a wet filling means soggy pastry.
- Toast the almonds in a dry pan until golden, cool, then pulse coarsely with the powdered sugar, 1 teaspoon of cinnamon, and the orange blossom water if using.
- Heat the oven to 180 C (350 F) and butter a 24 cm (9 or 10 inch) round pan or ovenproof skillet.
- Lay in 7 phyllo sheets one at a time, each brushed with melted butter, fanned so they overhang the rim all the way around.
- Spread the egg mixture over the base, then the shredded chicken, then the almond mixture in an even layer.
- Fold the overhanging phyllo over the top, add 2 more buttered sheets, tuck the edges down the sides, and brush the top with butter and the egg yolk.
- Bake 30 to 35 minutes until deep golden and audibly crisp.
- Rest 10 minutes, then slide onto a platter.
- Just before serving, dust with powdered sugar and draw thin lines of cinnamon across the top.
Cooked it? Say how it went. Tweaks, substitutions, honest verdicts, all welcome.
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