Stranger Foods

MoroccanChicken bastilla

Serves 6 | Prep 20 mins | Cook 50 mins

A bastilla is the pie equivalent of the Moroccan world and what a pie it is!

Source: Persiana

Ingredients

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Imperial

x0.5

1 kg onions, diced
olive oil
7.5 cm piece of fresh root ginger, peeled and finely grated
1 heaped tsp ground cinnamon, plus ½ tsp to garnish
½ tsp ground mace
½ tsp ground nutmeg
1 tbsp caster sugar
large handful of dates, pitted and finely chopped
1 medium pre-roasted chicken (about 2 kg), meat finely shredded
75 g pine nuts, toasted
7 large eggs, 6 hard boiled and roughly chopped; 1 egg seperated, the white lightly beaten
1x 20 g packet of flat leaf parsley, stalks and leaves finely chopped
1x 20 g packet of coriander, stalks and leaves finely chopped
3 tbsp clear honey
juice of ½ lemon
sea salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper
6 sheets of filo pastry, each measuring roughly 48 x 26 cm
icing sugar, to dust

Instructions

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°F

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Preheat the oven to 160°C/gas 4. Line a large baking sheet with nonstick baking paper.
Fry the onions in a generous amount of olive oil in a large frying pan set over a medium heat, stirring regularly to encourage them to caramelize and prevent burning. Once they are brown (not burnt!) and sticky, add the ginger, dry spices, caster sugar, and dates and stir the mixture well. Cook until any liquid has been absorbed. Remove from the heat and set aside.
Put the shredded chicken into a large bowl with the pine nuts, chopped egg, parsley and coriander and mix together. Add the fried onion mixture, honey and lemon juice and give everything another good mix. Season generously with sea salt flakes and pepper.
Cut each filo pastry sheet in half to make 2 squares. Take 2 squares and overlap them to create a star shape. Divide the mixture into 6 portions, then pile 1 portion into the centre of the pastry star. Pat it down to form a flat round disc (not too wide, so that you can still seal the pastry edges around the stuffing), then brush the exposed edges of pastry with the beaten egg white. Bring the points of the pastry in towards the centre one by one and brush each overlap of pastry with a little beaten egg white as you go to secure, until the final flap closes the pastry parcel. Brush with alittle more egg white to seal the parcel. Turn the bastilla over and place it onto the baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining pastry squares and stuffing to create 6 bastilla. Brush the tops and sides of the pastry with egg yolk, then bake for , or until golden brown.
Remove the bastilla from the oven and, while still hot, dust each with icing sugar and a sprinkling of cinnamon.

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