MOROCCAN CHICKEN BASTILLA

A light, crispy warqa/phyllo pastry pie dish with savory saffron chicken, spicy omelet stuffing, and a crunchy topping of fried almonds sweetened with orange flower water. A garnish of powdered sugar and cinnamon.

Takes 3-4 hours to prepare and cook. Would suggest some practice working with phyllo dough with simpler recipes first if you are not familiar.

Can be covered in plastic and stored in the refrigerator for up to 1 day, or in the freezer for up to 2 months after assembly, before baking.

• For the chicken:
• 1.5 kg whole chicken
• 30 ml olive oil
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 large onions, coarsely chopped
• 1 tablespoon ground ginger
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 ½ tablespoons ground white pepper
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 1 teaspoon crumbled saffron threads
• 2 to 3 sticks cinnamon
• Egg stuffing:
• ¼ cup coarsely chopped fresh coriander
• 6 large eggs, beaten
• Almond Topping:
• vegetable oil for frying
• 1 cup whole blanched almonds
• ¼ cup confectioners’ sugar
• 1 ½ tablespoons orange flower water
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened
• Dough:
• ½ cup unsalted butter, melted
• 500 g warqa, or phyllo dough (you can use store bought or make your own if you are feeling brave)
• 1 large egg yolk, beaten
• For the garnish:
• confectioners’ sugar and ground cinnamon for dusting

Cook the Chicken:
Cut the chicken into 8 pieces, discarding the skin and fat. Add the butter and oil to a large cast iron pot and heat on medium until the butter melts. Add the onion, and cook, stirring occasionally, until translucent, about 2 minutes. Add the spices and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the chicken pieces and stir to coat. Cover, and cook over medium to medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, for about 1 hour, or until the chicken is very tender and falls off the bone. Do not add water, and be careful not to burn the chicken or the sauce as this will ruin the dish.
Transfer the cooked chicken to a plate, and reduce the sauce in the pot until ½ of the liquid has evaporated. Stir occasionally, and adjust the heat as necessary to prevent burning.
Remove and discard the cinnamon sticks.
While the sauce is reducing and the chicken is still warm, pick the meat off the bones, breaking it into bite-size pieces. Place in a bowl and stir in ½ of the reduced sauce; cover the meat and set aside.

Egg Stuffing:
Transfer the remaining reduced sauce to a large non-stick pan. Add the coriander, and simmer for 1 to 2 minutes.
Add the beaten eggs, and cook as you would scrambled eggs. It will take up to 10 minutes for the eggs to set. Set the egg stuffing aside.

Almond Topping:
Heat the vegetable oil in a pot over medium heat until the oil shimmers. Test the oil by dropping in an almond. If tiny bubbles rapidly rise around the almond within a few seconds, the oil is ready. If the oil boils and splatters immediately, it’s too hot.
Fry the almonds in batches, stirring constantly, until light golden brown. As soon as the almonds are richly colored, transfer them to a plate with paper towels to drain and cool. Fried almonds will continue to darken a bit after frying, so be careful not to burn them while they’re in the oil.
When the almonds have cooled completely, pulse them in a food processor until finely ground. Put them in a mixing bowl, and work in the powdered sugar, orange flower water, and softened butter. Set aside.

Assemble
Generously oil a large round dish.
Brush melted butter on each sheet of warqa or phyllo dough as you work.
Using your pan as a guide, overlap 3 or 4 single layers of warqa or double layers of phyllo dough in a circular fashion, so that the excess dough drapes over the edges of the dish. Butter each layer of dough.
Tip all the chicken filling out onto the middle of the last sheet and spread evenly into a circle.
Distribute the egg stuffing over the chicken.
Top the egg stuffing with another couple of layers of warqa or phyllo in a circular fashion.
Spread the almond topping over this layer of dough.
Fold the excess dough up and over the almonds to enclose the pie. Flatten and smooth any bulky areas.
Brush butter on the folded edges of dough, and top with 3 more overlapping layers of warqa or phyllo, brushing butter on each layer. Fold down the edges of dough and carefully tuck them underneath the pie, molding and shaping the bastilla as you go.
Place a lined baking tray on top of the round dish and flip the pie onto the baking tray. Be very careful not to tear the top. Use a couple more sheets of dough if needed to cover any tears. Brush with more butter.

Bake:
Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 180ºC.
Place the bastilla on a prepared baking sheet and in the middle of the oven, bake for 30 to 40 minutes, or until deep golden brown.

Note:
Note that a bastilla placed in the oven directly from the freezer will take up to 1 hour to bake.

Garnish and serve:
Generously coat the bastilla with sifted powdered sugar. Sift the cinnamon on top of the sugar, or use the cinnamon to decorate the top of the pie.

Recipe and photo’s: Chante de Goede