Pastilla
One of the most surprising dishes in Moroccan cooking: a savoury meat pie dusted with icing sugar and cinnamon. Not a mistake or a garnish — the pairing of sweetness and meat is attributed to the influence of Andalusian cooking, where it was common. The filling has three separate layers with three distinct textures: shredded chicken, an egg mixture made from the sauce, and fried almonds with sugar — each made separately.
Your own work in that: 25 min.
- Braising the chicken 70 min
- Egg layer 15 min
- Almonds 15 min
- Assembly 25 min
- Baking 40 min
Step by step
0 / 8 doneBraise the chicken in spices
Braise the chicken with the finely chopped onion, butter, saffron, ginger, cinnamon, turmeric, chopped herbs, salt and water for 60 minutes, covered, over low heat, until the meat falls apart under a fork. The onion should break down entirely into the sauce.
Ingredients: 1000 g chicken thighs · 3 pcs onions · 60 g butter · 1 pinch saffron · 1 tsp ground ginger · 1 tsp cinnamon · ½ tsp turmeric · ½ bunch coriander · ½ bunch parsley · 300 ml water · 2 tsp salt
Onion dissolved, meat falling apart under a fork.Lift out the meat and reduce the sauce
Remove the chicken, shred it with your fingers and set aside. Reduce the sauce uncovered to about 200 ml over high heat, usually about 10 minutes — it must be thick and concentrated, because it will shortly bind with the eggs and excess liquid would soak the filo from within.
Ingredients: 1000 g chicken thighs · 3 pcs onions · 60 g butter · 1 pinch saffron · 1 tsp ground ginger · 1 tsp cinnamon · ½ tsp turmeric · ½ bunch coriander · ½ bunch parsley · 300 ml water · 2 tsp salt
Set the eggs in the reduced sauce
Pour the beaten eggs into the hot sauce with the lemon juice and stir over low heat for 5 minutes, until they set into soft curds — like slightly moist scrambled eggs. This is the second layer and it binds the whole pie. Transfer to a bowl and leave to cool.
Ingredients: 6 pcs eggs · ½ pcs lemon · 200 g almonds · 60 g icing sugar · 1 tbsp orange blossom water · 100 ml oil
Soft curds, still moist — not dry scrambled eggs.Fry the almonds and grind with sugar
Fry the almonds in oil for 4 minutes, to golden, stirring, as they burn easily. Drain, cool and pulse them to coarse gravel with the icing sugar and orange blossom water. Coarse, not flour — the crunch of the almonds is the pie's third texture; ground for too long they release their oil and turn to paste.
Ingredients: 6 pcs eggs · ½ pcs lemon · 200 g almonds · 60 g icing sugar · 1 tbsp orange blossom water · 100 ml oil
Line the tin with a wide overhang
Heat the oven to 180°C. Butter a 26 cm round tin and line it with six filo sheets arranged like spokes, half of each hanging over the rim. Brush every sheet with butter. The overhang will close the pie on top.
Ingredients: 350 g filo pastry · 120 g butter · 40 g icing sugar · 2 tsp cinnamon
Sheets like spokes, half of each hanging over.Build three layers of filling
Spread in turn: meat, egg mixture, sugared almonds. The meat and egg mixture should be cooled — hot, they will soften the filo. Three distinct layers, not a mixture — they should be visible when cut, and each gives a different flavour and texture in the same mouthful.
Ingredients: 1000 g chicken thighs · 3 pcs onions · 60 g butter · 1 pinch saffron · 1 tsp ground ginger · 1 tsp cinnamon · ½ tsp turmeric · ½ bunch coriander · ½ bunch parsley · 300 ml water · 2 tsp salt
Fold the overhang and add two sheets
Fold the overhanging filo into the centre, cover with two extra sheets tucked underneath and brush the top with butter. Tucking seals the edges — left open, the filling escapes during baking.
Ingredients: 350 g filo pastry · 120 g butter · 40 g icing sugar · 2 tsp cinnamon
Bake and dust with sugar and cinnamon
Bake in the preheated oven 40 minutes at 180°C, until deep golden and crisp. Rest 10 minutes, then dust with icing sugar and draw a cinnamon lattice — through a strip of paper or a sieve. Serve warm.
Ingredients: 350 g filo pastry · 120 g butter · 40 g icing sugar · 2 tsp cinnamon
Before you start
Traditionally made with pigeon
Classic Fez pastilla is traditionally made with pigeon, whose meat is darker and more strongly flavoured. Today chicken is very often used, in Morocco too. The seafood version, pastilla bil hout, omits the sugar and cinnamon entirely.
Warka instead of filo
Moroccan warka pastry is very thin and more elastic than filo, giving a more delicate pie. Filo is easier to find and works, but every sheet must be buttered or it cracks as you fold.
Assemble a day ahead
An assembled, unbaked pastilla keeps 24 hours in the fridge under film. Bake straight from cold, adding about 10 minutes. Baked and reheated it loses crispness, so postpone the baking rather than the serving.
