Chicken Bastilla
Morocco's celebration pie: shredded slow-cooked chicken, almonds and eggs wrapped in crisp filo, dusted with sugar and cinnamon.
Overview
Chicken thighs poach with onion, saffron, ginger, cinnamon and orange-flower water until tender; the meat is shredded and the cooking liquid is reduced to a concentrated stock. Whisked eggs are scrambled gently into the reduced stock with the chicken, making a creamy, intensely savoury filling. Toasted blanched almonds are pulsed with sugar, cinnamon and a tablespoon of orange-flower water into a coarse sweet rubble. A round springform tin is layered with overlapping filo sheets brushed with butter; almond rubble goes down; chicken-and-egg goes on; more filo seals the top. Baked for 30 minutes at 200°C until deep gold. Dusted with icing sugar and finished with cinnamon stripes.
Ingredients
Chicken
- 800 g boneless skinless chicken thighs
- 1 onion (large, sliced)
- 50 g unsalted butter
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 large pinch saffron threads
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon white pepper
- 1 small bunch flat-leaf parsley (chopped)
- 1 small bunch coriander (chopped)
- 1 tablespoon orange-flower water
- 300 ml water
Egg layer
- 4 eggs (large, beaten)
Almond layer
- 200 g blanched whole almonds
- 60 g caster sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon orange-flower water
- 30 g unsalted butter (melted, for binding)
Pastry
- 12 sheets of filo pastry
- 100 g unsalted butter (melted, for brushing)
To finish
- 3 tablespoons icing sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Method
Stage 1 - Cook the chicken
- Melt butter with olive oil in a heavy lidded pot over medium heat.
- Add the sliced onion; cook 8 minutes until soft.
- Add saffron, ginger, cinnamon, turmeric, salt and white pepper; stir 30 seconds.
- Add the chicken thighs, parsley, coriander, orange-flower water and 300 ml water.
- Bring to a simmer; cover; cook 40 minutes until the chicken is very tender.
- Lift out the chicken; shred with two forks.
- Increase heat under the cooking liquid; reduce uncovered 10-12 minutes until thick and saucy (about 200 ml left).
Stage 2 - Eggs into the sauce
- Reduce heat to medium-low.
- Pour the beaten eggs into the reduced sauce, whisking constantly.
- Cook 3 minutes, stirring, until the eggs form soft scrambled curds suspended in a thick yellow gravy.
- Stir in the shredded chicken.
- Off heat; cool to room temperature.
Stage 3 - Almonds
- Toast the almonds in a dry pan over medium 5 minutes until pale gold and fragrant.
- Cool.
- Pulse in a food processor with sugar and cinnamon to a coarse rubble (NOT a powder).
- Stir in the orange-flower water and melted butter; the mixture should be slightly clumpy.
Stage 4 - Assemble
- Heat oven to 200°C (180°C fan).
- Brush a 26 cm springform tin (or oven-safe round dish) generously with melted butter.
- Lay one filo sheet across, overhanging the edge by 8 cm; brush with butter.
- Continue, rotating each subsequent sheet 60° around the tin, until you have 8 sheets laid down with overhang all around.
- Spread the chicken-and-egg mixture evenly over the filo base.
- Top with the almond rubble.
- Lay the remaining 4 filo sheets on top, brushing each with butter, tucking them into the tin.
- Fold the overhanging filo up and over the top to seal - the parcel should look like a domed round pie.
- Brush the entire top thoroughly with butter.
Stage 5 - Bake
- Bake 30-35 minutes until deep golden brown and crisp.
Stage 6 - Decorate
- Cool 10 minutes in the tin.
- Carefully release from the springform; transfer to a serving plate.
- Sift icing sugar evenly across the top.
- Sprinkle the cinnamon in narrow stripes or a lattice pattern.
Stage 7 - Serve
- Cut into wedges with a serrated knife (sawing motion - the filo is crisp).
- Eat warm; small portions are usual because it's rich.
Notes
- The trinity of sweet, savoury, crisp: Bastilla works because the icing sugar offsets the saffron-and-chicken savouriness, the cinnamon perfumes both, and the filo provides crisp contrast to the soft filling. Don't be tempted to skip the sugar dusting because it sounds odd; it's the dish.
- Warqa vs filo: Real Moroccan warqa is a very thin pancake-style sheet, painstakingly made. Filo is the universally accepted substitute and works perfectly well. Use the thinnest filo you can find.
- Cool the filling before assembly: Warm filling melts the butter on the filo sheets and you get a soggy base. Let the chicken-and-egg cool to room temperature before layering.
Storage
- Best within 2 hours of baking. The filo softens with time.
- Refrigerate 2 days; reheat in a 180°C oven 10 minutes (microwave makes it floppy).
- Freezes well unbaked - assemble, freeze, then bake from frozen at 180°C 45 minutes.
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