Pastilla

Ingredients

Meat

• 1chicken, jointed, or 4 pigeons
• 3onions, grated
• 100 gbutter
• 1 tspsaffron threads
• 2 tspground ginger
• 1 tspturmeric
• 1 tspwhite pepper
• 1cinnamon stick
• 1 bunchcoriander and parsley, tied
• 500 mlwater
• salt

Egg layer

• 8eggs, beaten
• juice of half a lemon

Almond layer

• 300 gblanched almonds
• 100 gicing sugar
• 1 tbspground cinnamon
• 2 tbsporange blossom water
• oil, for frying

Pastry

• 12 sheetswarqa, or filo pastry
• 150 gbutter, melted
• 1egg yolk, to seal

To finish

• icing sugar
• ground cinnamon

Directions

1. Cook the meat first: put the chicken in a wide pot with the grated onion, butter, saffron, ginger, turmeric, pepper, cinnamon stick, herb bundle, water and salt. Simmer covered for an hour until the meat falls from the bone. Lift the meat out, shred it finely and discard the skin and bones. Now reduce the cooking liquid hard, uncovered, until it is thick and jammy.
2. Reduce it properly, until almost no liquid remains. Take out the herb bundle and cinnamon stick. Turn the heat low, pour the beaten eggs into the reduced sauce and stir constantly. Cook the eggs until they set into small dry curds, which takes 8 to 10 minutes.
3. Cook the egg layer until it is genuinely dry and crumbly rather than soft and creamy. Wet egg makes the base of the pastilla soggy. Add the lemon juice and set it aside to cool. For the almond layer, fry the blanched almonds in oil until deep golden, then drain them well.
4. Cool them completely, then pulse them coarsely with the icing sugar, cinnamon and orange blossom water. Grind them coarse rather than to a powder, so the layer has texture and crunch. Brush a sheet of warqa with butter and lay it in the tin, overhanging the edge, and repeat with several sheets in a fan so the whole tin is covered with plenty of overhang.
5. Work fast and keep unused sheets under a damp cloth, because it dries out in a minute. Lay two more sheets flat across the base as a floor. Egg on the bottom, because it is the wettest layer and the pastry beneath it is doubled.
6. Fold the overhanging sheets in over the filling, brushing each with butter, and seal with egg yolk. Top with two more buttered sheets, tucking them down the sides. Brush the whole thing generously with melted butter.
7. Bake at 190°C (375°F) for 30 to 35 minutes until deep golden and crisp all over. Turn it out and bake it upside down for the last 10 minutes if the base looks pale, which is worth doing. Rest it 10 minutes, then dust it heavily with icing sugar and draw lines of cinnamon across it in a lattice. Dust it generously. Serve it hot, cut into wedges, and eat it with the hands.

Technique

• Warqa is sold fresh in Moroccan shops and filo is the usual substitute, though it is thicker.
• A seafood pastilla with vermicelli is a Casablanca speciality and contains no sugar.
• It can be assembled a day ahead and baked when wanted.

Substitutions

• Filo pastry, using two sheets where one of warqa is called for.
• Chicken thighs, which have more flavour than breast.

Variations

• Made with pigeon, which is the original.
• Seafood pastilla, savoury and unsugared.
• A sweet milk pastilla, with cream and fried pastry sheets.

History

Its layered warqa pie descends from Andalusi cooking carried to Fez and Tetouan by Muslims and Jews expelled from Spain after 1492.

Frequently asked questions

What is Pastilla?

Pastilla is a main from Morocco: flaky warqa pie of pigeon or chicken, almonds, cinnamon and powdered sugar. Its layered warqa pie descends from Andalusi cooking carried to Fez and Tetouan by Muslims and Jews expelled from Spain after 1492.

How long does Pastilla take to make?

Pastilla takes 1 hr 30 min of preparation and 1 hr 30 min of cooking. The recipe makes 8 servings. It is rated hard to make.

What can I substitute in Pastilla?

Yes, within limits. Filo pastry, using two sheets where one of warqa is called for. Chicken thighs, which have more flavour than breast.

What is the most important thing to get right in Pastilla?

Cook the egg layer until it is genuinely dry and crumbly rather than soft and creamy. Wet egg makes the base of the pastilla soggy. Add the lemon juice and set it aside to cool. For the almond layer, fry the blanched almonds in oil until deep golden, then drain them well.