What is Pastilla?
Pastilla (also known at bastilla), is a classic North African pie dish, especially prominent in Moroccan and Algerian cuisine. It typically has a phyllo dough crust and is stuffed with savory fillings such as meat, nuts, and eggs. Similar to other Moroccan recipes, it combines many different types of flavor profiles- the pastry crust is crunchy and topped with cinnamon and sugar. The meat is tender and savory, spiced with turmeric. The toasted almonds give an extra crunch on the inside. Altogether, this sweet and savory recipe is somewhat time-intensive, but in our opinion, well worth it and bound to impress your dinner guests!
Other Delicious Moroccan Recipes
Note that this recipe is part of a larger compilation of Moroccan recipes created by GradFood. So if you enjoyed this recipe for Chicken Pastilla, be sure to head to The Top 10 Authentic Moroccan Recipes. This includes delicious meals like Shakshuka, Lamb & Apricot Tagine and much more!
Moroccan Chicken Pastilla
Ingredients
- 1 package phyllo dough cut in half
- 3 large chicken thighs trimmed
- 2 large sweet onions diced
- 5 tbsp butter melted
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- ½ tsp turmeric
- ¼ tsp saffron
- ½ tsp coriander
- 1 cup parsley chopped
- 2 cups sliced almonds
- 6 eggs whisked
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Powdered sugar
Instructions
- Saute onions and garlic in a large bowl on medium heat with olive oil until golden. Add chicken thighs, cinnamon stick, saffron, turmeric, coriander, ginger, and salt/pepper. Stir everything together. Add water to cover. Simmer on low-medium heat, covered, for about 45 minutes until chicken is cooked through.
- Lightly toast almond slices in a pan and add them to a food processor with ¼ cup powdered sugar and 2 tsp cinnamon. Pulse food processor until it resembles a course sand and set aside.
- When chicken is cooked through, remove chicken from pot. Shred chicken, add another ½ tsp turmeric, and set aside.
- Let remaining ingredients in pot cook on medium heat, uncovered until reduced by about half. Add whisked eggs and cook, stirring frequently, until this resembles a thick paste.
- Melt butter in a small bowl in the microwave. Now bring all of your components to the counter (melted butter, shredded chicken, egg/onion mixture, cinnamon sugar almond mixture, and sheets of phyllo dough).
- In an oven-safe ramekins (we just used small glass Pyrex bowls), place about 8 half-sheets of phyllo dough, lightly brushing with butter between every 2 layers) letting the layers extend out of bowl.
- Add a small layer of chicken to the phylo-covered bowl, then fold over 2 of the phyllo dough sheets to cover the chicken. Lightly brush with butter. Add a layer of onion/egg mixture, fold over another 2 sheets, and brush with oil. Add a layer of almonds, drizzle over some butter, and wrap the remaining phyllo sheets to cover everything and fold tightly, brushing over a small final layer of butter. Repeat these steps with remaining ingredients depending on how many pastillas you want to make.
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cook pastillas for 15 minutes. Then remove them from oven, carefully remove them from their containers, and put them back in the containers upside-down. Brush top with some butter. Place back in oven for another 10-15 minutes until phyllo is crispy on top.
- When cooked through, remove from oven and their containers. Sprinkle the tops with powdered sugar and you can use cinnamon with colanders to make patterns with cinnamon.
Notes
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7 thoughts on “Moroccan Chicken Pastilla”
I found the combination of meat, sweet, and middle eastern spices a bit odd. Perhaps omit the saffron? However, when I added more salt at the table it began to grow on me. This recipe is complex. The instructions should be revised to include additional watch points, so a beginner like me doesn’t get the procedure and technique wrong. For example, adding the eggs didn’t go as described. After removing the chicken from the onion mixture, I reduced the mixture by about half, but the eggs didn’t set the mixture. It broke and became watery with scrambled eggs, despite moderate heat and constant stirring. I ended up draining off much of the liquid (and flavor). I used unsalted butter for the phyllo dough, but salted would have tasted better. Any more experienced observations would be helpful.
Thank you for your thoughtful feedback, Mike! We agree with you that this combination of flavors is quite unique compared to other cuisines we have tried before. In terms of the eggs, if there is too much liquid in the pot then one suggestion would be to start to scramble the eggs in a separate pan and then when they start to solidify, you can add them to the mixture. And in terms of salting, we tend to err on the side of less salt but we acknowledge that everyone has their own preference for saltiness. Thanks again and have a great day!
Great recipe! All the flavors of Morocco❤️ Reminds me of my sister in laws chicken pastilla. Thank you for sharing.
Thanks so much for your kind words! Moroccan cuisine is definitely one of our favorites 🙂