Pastilla is a phyllo dough pastry stuffed with shredded chicken and dried fruit from the Moroccan cuisine.

This festive traditional Moroccan pastilla is popular on holiday tables of Muslims and Jews alike. The only difference is, while the Moroccan Muslims may use butter or clarified butter to grease the phyllo dough, Jews use oil for kashrut reasons.

The original pastry is baked as a cake that’s sliced and served around the table. The version here is baked as individual pastries, but feel free to bake it as one large cake. Instructions for each version are in the recipe below.

Moroccan pastilla

Recipe by Vered GuttmanCourse: Main courseCuisine: Moroccan, JewishDifficulty: Medium

Servings

servings

Prep time

minutes

Cooking time

hour

Total time

hour

minutes

To toast walnut and almond, spread them on separate baking sheets and toast in 350 degrees until lightly golden, about 8-10 minutes for the almond, and 15-20 for the walnut. Shake pans half way through.

INGREDIENTS

For the pastry
6-8 phyllo sheets (14” x 9”)
4-6 tablespoons almond meal
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon powdered sugar (optional)
For the filling
2 cups hot chicken broth
½ teaspoon turmeric
Kosher salt
6 boneless skinless chicken thighs
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 yellow onion, diced
1 teaspoon grated ginger
½ teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon paprika
¼ teaspoon cardamom
⅓ cup toasted walnut (see note above)
⅓ cup toasted sliced almonds (see note above)
⅓ cup chopped dried apricots
¼ cup golden raisins
3 tablespoon honey

DIRECTIONS

The day before cooking, thaw phyllo in the fridge. Take phyllo out of the fridge (but leave inside the box) an hour before you start cooking.
Put chicken broth, turmeric and 2 teaspoons kosher salt in a sauce pan and bring to boil over high heat. Add chicken, bring back to boil, then cover the pan, reduce heat to low and cook on low simmer for 45 minutes. Transfer chicken to a plate and discard the broth.
Put olive oil in a non-stick skillet over medium-high heat and sauté onion until golden. Add ginger and spices and sauté for another minute. Add nuts, apricot, raisins, 1 teaspoon kosher salt and black pepper and cook for another 3 minutes, stirring frequently. Drizzle honey all over the mixture, mix and cook for another minutes, then remove from heat.
Shred chicken using a fork (or chop finely with a knife) and add to the nut-fruit mixture in the pan together with chopped parsley. Taste and adjust salt and honey. Let mixture cool down for about 20 minutes before you continue.
Oven to 400 degrees.
To prepare the pastry, make sure your working surface is completely clean and dry. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Put 4 tablespoons olive oil in a cup and have a pastry brush ready.
Remove phyllo dough from its box and put next to you, flat on a working surface, then cover with damp towel to make sure it doesn’t dry out.
To make individual pastries (as in the photo above) – work with one phyllo sheet at a time. Put a sheet on a working surface, long side near you, and brush oil on the left half. Sprinkle with a little almond meal and then fold right half on top of the left half, and brush oil again with oil. Put ⅔ cup of the chicken filling in the center of the phyllo sheet and fold bottom and top to cover, like an envelope. Then fold each corner in, as shown in the photos, to create a round pastry. (Alternatively, you can line the filling at the bottom of the phyllo sheet and roll it into a cigar.) Transfer folded pastry to baking sheet and continue with the rest of the sheets.
To make one large pastry – grease a 9″ or 10″ round cake pan, preferable springform. Layer one phyllo sheet in the pan, letting it fall around the sides, and brush with oil. Sprinkle with a little almond meal and layer with another phyllo sheet. Repeat with another phyllo sheet (3 sheets altogether.) Spoon all of the chicken mixture into the pan and cover with the leftover phyllo that leans on the sides. Top with 2 more phyllo sheets, brushing each one with oil and sprinkling almond meal between the layers. Tack the sides of the phyllo into the pan to create a nicely shaped pastry.
Brush folded pastries (or one large pastry) with oil and bake for 15-18 minutes for the small ones (or 30-35 minutes for the large one,) or until golden brown on top.
Dust with powdered sugar (seriously!) and serve.