Morocco · Moroccan festive cuisine (classic pastilla)
Moroccan chicken pastilla with almonds
A round pie of crisp, golden warqa pastry holding three distinct layers: shredded saffron chicken, onions and eggs set in a well-reduced sauce, and sweet fried almonds with cinnamon, finished with icing sugar and a fine cinnamon lattice.
Cookhuddle Editorial Cookhuddle | Morocco
Editorial selection: recipes cross-checked against several documentary sources. They have not been tested in our kitchen: follow the precautions given and adapt times to your own oven.
original Original text, written in English.
Read this recipe infrançais · translationespañol · translationEnglish · original
- Servings
- 8
- Preparation
- 45 min
- Cooking
- 90 min
- Resting
- 40 min
- Total
- 175 min
- Difficulty
- Advanced
Cuisine / tradition: Moroccan festive cuisine (classic pastilla) (MA) — declared by the author
- Main dish
- Baked
- Celebration
Ingredients
For 8 servings
- 1.2 kg chicken thighs and drumsticks, bone-in
- 4 piece onions, finely chopped
- 60 g butter, for the sauce
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 1 tsp ground black pepper
- 1 pinch saffron threads
- 1 piece cinnamon stick
- 1 bunch flat-leaf parsley, chopped
- 1 bunch fresh coriander, chopped
- 1 tsp salt, to start (adjust each layer at the end)
- 6 piece eggs, beaten
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 200 g blanched almonds
- 4 tbsp neutral oil, for frying the almonds
- 4 tbsp icing sugar, for the almonds
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon, for the almonds
- 1 tbsp orange blossom water (optional)
- 12 piece warqa sheets (the reference; see the note on brick and filo)
- 100 g butter, melted, for the pastry and the tin
- 1 piece egg yolk, for the glaze
- 3 tbsp icing sugar, for the finish
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon, for the fine lattice only
Method
- Step 1. Minute 0: put the chicken, onions, 60 g of butter, ginger, pepper, saffron, cinnamon stick, parsley, coriander and 1 teaspoon of salt in a large pot with 300 ml of water. Cover and simmer gently for 50 minutes, turning the chicken once.⏱ 50 min
- Step 2. Minute 20 to 30, during the simmer: fry the almonds in the oil over medium heat until pale gold, 3 to 4 minutes, and drain. Crush them coarsely, keeping some pieces, and mix with 4 tablespoons of icing sugar, 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon and the orange blossom water if using. Set aside to cool.
- Step 3. Minute 50: lift out the chicken and remove the cinnamon stick. Check with a food thermometer: the thickest piece of chicken must reach at least 74 °C (165 °F) at the centre, without touching the bone. If it has not reached that temperature, keep cooking and check again. Pull the meat from the bones, discard the skin and bones, and shred the meat into small pieces. Spread it in a shallow dish.
- Step 4. Minute 50 to 65, while you shred: boil the sauce uncovered until it becomes a thick, jam-like onion preparation with no liquid left: when you draw a spoon across the pot, the base must show for a moment. Mix 2 tablespoons of it into the shredded chicken, no more, and taste for salt. Keep the rest of the onion preparation in the pot.⏱ 15 min
- Step 5. Minute 65: lower the heat, add the beaten eggs and the lemon juice to the onion preparation and cook, stirring, for 4 to 5 minutes, until the eggs are set into firm, moist curds with no liquid left in the pot (cook 1 to 2 minutes longer if some remains). Taste for salt and spread in a second shallow dish.⏱ 5 min
- Step 6. Minute 70 to 100: let the three components (the chicken, the onion and egg preparation, the almonds) cool completely for 30 minutes, spread thin in their dishes: a warm filling softens and tears the warqa. At minute 85, heat the oven to 180 degrees C with a heavy baking sheet on the lowest shelf.⏱ 30 min
- Step 7. Minute 100 to 120, assembly: butter a round metal tin of 28 cm (a springform tin is fine). Brush a warqa sheet with melted butter and lay it in the tin so that half hangs over the edge; overlap 6 more buttered sheets around the tin, then put 2 in the centre. Keep the unused sheets under a damp cloth. Make three separate layers, pressing each one gently flat: first the shredded chicken, then the onion and egg preparation, then the crushed almonds. Fold the overhanging sheets over the top, cover with 3 more buttered sheets, tuck the edges under like a lid and brush the whole top with the egg yolk.
- Step 8. Minute 120 to 160: stand the tin on the hot baking sheet on the lowest shelf and bake for 35 to 40 minutes without turning the pastilla over, turning the tin round halfway, until the top is deep golden and the sides and base are crisp (lift an edge to check). If the top browns before the base is golden, cover it loosely with foil.⏱ 40 min
- Step 9. Minute 160: rest in the tin for 10 minutes so that the layers set, then slide the pastilla onto a flat dish or a board with two wide spatulas.⏱ 10 min
- Step 10. Dust the top with the 3 tablespoons of icing sugar through a fine sieve, then trace a thin, discreet lattice with the teaspoon of cinnamon (use paper strips as a guide). Cut with a serrated knife and serve warm, in wedges that show the three layers.
Story and cultural note
Pastilla (also written bastilla or b'stilla) is a festive dish of Moroccan cuisine, traditionally made with pigeon; chicken is the common modern version, and this recipe presents it. Its mix of savoury filling, sweet almonds and a dusting of sugar and cinnamon is its signature. Cooks differ on the details: some stir beaten eggs into the reduced broth (as here), others add chopped hard-boiled eggs, and the quantity of almonds and the oven temperature vary from one family to another. Here the chicken, the onion and egg preparation and the almonds form three distinct layers.
Tips for success
Reduce the onion sauce until no liquid is left and cook the eggs until firm: a wet filling softens the warqa. Let all three components cool before assembling. Keep the warqa under a damp cloth and butter every sheet. Fry the almonds only to pale gold. Bake on a preheated heavy sheet, on the lowest shelf, without turning the pastilla over, and turn the tin halfway. Keep the cinnamon lattice thin: it is a decoration, not a coating. Warqa is the reference: very thin, elastic and quick to dry. Brick and filo do not behave like it. Brick sheets are thicker and larger: about 8 sheets (1 + 4 around + 1 in the centre + 2 for the lid), 30 to 35 minutes. Filo is thinner and drier: about 16 buttered sheets, covered with foil if it browns too fast. These adjustments are estimates, to be tested.
Serving and presentation
Serve warm on a round, flat dish. Dust with icing sugar through a fine sieve, then trace a thin, discreet lattice of cinnamon with paper strips as a guide. Cut with a serrated knife into wedges that show the three layers: chicken, onion and egg, almonds. Offer a little extra cinnamon on the side.
Diet and allergens
Information declared by the author. CookHuddle does not verify or certify it. If you have an allergy, check the ingredients yourself.
ContainsGluten (cereals)EggsTree nutsMilk
