Moroccan Bastilla – Chicken, Almond and Phyllo Pie

👨‍🍳 Method

For the Wrapping Dough

1. 1
   Thaw the puff pastry 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

1. 2
   Heat the olive oil in a wide pan over medium heat.

   ⚙ Pan-fryingStoveFrying pan
2. 3
   Add the onion and fry 5–8 minutes, stirring now and then, until the onion is soft and translucent and starts to turn golden at the edges. If it browns too fast, lower the heat.

   ⚙ 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.
3. 4
   Add the cinnamon, ginger, saffron and cumin and fry about a minute, until fragrant.

   ⚙ Adding to the hot fat and fryingStove
4. 5
   Add the chicken, season with salt and black pepper and cook for 15 minutes, until the chicken is cooked.

   Stove
5. 6
   Take out the chicken, shred the meat into small pieces and return it to the onion.

   Fork
6. 7
   Add the eggs and cook, stirring, until the eggs set and the mixture is dry.

   Stove

   💡Cook the eggs into the chicken until no liquid is left: a wet filling softens the phyllo from the inside and the pie won't be crisp.
7. 8
   Remove from the heat, stir in the almonds and let the filling cool completely.

To assemble

1. 9
   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.
2. 10
   Grease Pan of 26 cm and lay in it 4 puff pastry 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
3. 11
   Fill with the cooled filling and smooth the top.
4. 12
   Fold the edges of the sheets over the filling.
5. 13
   Cover with 4 more puff pastry sheets, brushing each one with a little the oil as well.

   Pastry brush
6. 14
   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.
7. 15
   Sprinkle the powdered sugar over the top and serve.