Moroccan pastilla — a festive pie of crisp phyllo dough filled with spiced chicken, toasted almonds and herbs. An impressive bake that combines sweet and savory.
Thaw the phyllo dough in the fridge overnight, until pliable but still cold.
Refrigerator
💡Work with store-bought dough while it's cold: warm puff pastry gets sticky and won't puff in the oven, and phyllo sheets dry out fast, so keep the waiting sheets covered with a damp towel.
For the Pastry Filling
2
Heat the olive oil in a wide pan over medium heat.
⚙ Pan-fryingStoveFrying pan
3
Add the onion and fry for 10 minutes, stirring, until the onion turns golden.
⚙ Adding to the hot fat and fryingStove
💡Add by cooking time: what needs long (onion, carrot, meat) goes in first, and what burns fast (garlic, dry spices) goes in last, only until fragrant.
4
Add the chicken and the cinnamon, ginger, turmeric, salt and black pepper and stir.
Stove
5
Remove from the heat and add the eggs, parsley, cilantro and almonds. Mix well.
To assemble
6
Preheat the oven to 190°C (375°F).
⚙ Preheating the OvenOven
💡Put things in the oven only once it's reached temperature, after the heating light has gone off: an oven that hasn't reached temperature changes baking times, and the bake burns outside or stays underbaked.
7
Grease 28 cm round pan and lay in it 5 phyllo sheets, spreading a little the oil on each sheet, so that the edges of the sheets hang over the sides of the pan.
Baking panPastry brush
8
Pour in the filling.
9
Fold the edges of the sheets over the filling.
10
Cover with 5 more phyllo sheets, brushing each one with a little the oil as well.
Pastry brush
11
Bake 25–30 minutes, until the pie is golden.
⚙ BakingOvenBaking pan
💡Check by the cue (until…), not just the clock: every oven bakes a little differently.
12
Sprinkle the powdered sugar and cinnamon over the top and serve.
803calories
49 gprotein
44 gcarbs
47 gfat
● protein 25%● carbs 22%● fat 53%
Per serving (360 g), of 4 servings
For the Wrapping Dough · For the Pastry Filling · To assemble ·
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Powdered sugar: measured in tbsp in this recipe: 1 tbsp = 8 g · 389 kcal per 100 g · More about Powdered sugar →
🔧 Tools needed (6) · 🍳 2 cooking vessels
Oven· 💡 Workaround, changes the dish: Toaster oven (Fits one small pan; good for small batches) · Air fryer (Small batches only, no runny batters) · Pot (Only for covered stews on the stovetop, no browning on top)
Refrigerator· Also works: Freezer (Chills faster; don't let it freeze) · Ice bath (Ice bath)
Stove· 💡 Workaround, changes the dish: Portable hot plate (one weaker burner) · Camping gas stove (One burner, outdoors) · Electric pressure cooker (multicooker) (One pot, no real shallow frying)
Frying pan· Also works: Wok (None)· 💡 Workaround, changes the dish: Pot (High sides, slow evaporation and weak browning)
Baking pan· Also works: Glass / ovenproof baking dish (None) · Disposable pan (None)
Pastry brush· Also works: Spoon / teaspoon (regular) (Spread with the back of a spoon, less even) · Paper towels (Paper towel dipped in oil)
By the steps, as the recipe is built now: another version or addition can change the list.
