Kitchen · Main dishes
Chicken and almond pastilla
Crisp pastry, spiced chicken, sweet almonds. The showpiece of the Moroccan table, originally from Fez.
- Preparation45 min
- Cooking1 h 30 min
- Total2 h 15 min
- Serves8
Ingredients
| 1.5 kg | chicken, in pieces |
| 3 | large onions, finely chopped |
| bunch | parsley and coriander, chopped |
| 1 tsp | ground ginger |
| 1 tsp | turmeric |
| ½ tsp | black pepper |
| 1 | cinnamon stick |
| pinch | saffron |
| 100 g | butter, half for cooking and half melted for the pastry |
| 300 ml | water |
| 6 | eggs, beaten |
| 250 g | blanched almonds |
| 80 g | icing sugar, plus more to dust |
| 2 tsp | ground cinnamon, plus more to dust |
| 1 tbsp | orange blossom water |
| 12 | sheets of warqa, brick or filo pastry |
| 1 | egg yolk, to seal and glaze |
| salt |
Method
- Cook the chicken with the onions, herbs, ginger, turmeric, pepper, cinnamon stick, saffron, salt, half the butter and the water for 45 to 50 minutes. Lift out the chicken and shred the meat.
- Reduce the sauce until thick. Pour in the beaten eggs and stir over low heat until softly scrambled and almost dry. Leave to cool.
- Fry or roast the almonds until golden. Crush them coarsely with the icing sugar, ground cinnamon and orange blossom water.
- Butter a round tin about 30 cm wide. Line it with overlapping pastry sheets, letting them hang over the edge, and brush each with melted butter.
- Fill in three layers: the egg and onion mixture, the chicken, then the almonds. Fold the pastry over the filling, cover with two more buttered sheets and tuck them under. Brush with butter and egg yolk.
- Bake at 180 °C for 30 to 35 minutes, until deep golden. Dust with icing sugar and draw lines of cinnamon across the top.
Tip
It can be assembled the day before and kept in the fridge, or frozen unbaked. Bake it just before serving.