Moroccan Bstilla Recipes

Steps:

• THE CRUST: If frozen, thaw out 1/2 pound (half a package) philo dough in the refrigerator for at least 8 hours.
• THE MEAT FILLING: In a large pan, combine 4 chicken breasts (cubed); 1 small onion (coarsely chopped); 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, 1 teaspoons fresh thyme (or 1/8 teaspoons dried); and 2 cups of water. At this point, you could also add any vegetables you like such as mushrooms (sliced); green peas, a potato (peeled and cubed); a carrot (peeled and diced); kernels of corn; etc. Bring to a boil and then simmer until the vegetables and meat are thoroughly cooked (20-30 minutes).
• THE NUTS: Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Place 1 cup almonds (finely chopped) in a shallow baking pan. Bake, stirring occasionally until golden brown (10-15 minutes). Cool.
• THE SPICES: In a small bowl, mix 1/4 cup brown sugar, 2 teaspoons cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger, and 1/4 teaspoons ground nutmeg.
• THE ONION MIXTURE: In a large frying pan, cook 1 small onion (finely chopped), in 3 tablespoons butter or margarine until limp but not browned.
• THE OTHER FILLING: In a medium bowl, whisk together 6 eggs; 2 cloves of garlic (finely chopped); 1 teaspoons salt; 1/4 teaspoons black pepper (freshly ground); and 2 tablespoons fresh mild mint or parsley (chopped). Add to the ONION MIXTURE (from above) and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, until eggs are softly set. Remove from heat.
• THE PASTILLA: Melt 1 cup butter or margarine. Use a brush to grease a 9-inch springform pan generously. Unroll the sheets of the phyllo dough so that they lie flat. Cover the dough with waxed paper and a wet paper towel so that they don't dry out. Line the pan with 1 sheet of dough, allowing the dough to extend over the edge of the pan. Brush the piece of dough generously with butter. Top with another piece of dough and brush with butter. Continue this until you have 8 layers of butter-brushed phyllo dough.
• FILLING THE PASTILLA: For the filling, add a layer of THE MEAT FILLING (from above), THE OTHER FILLING (from above), and then THE NUTS (from above). Sprinkle THE SPICES (from above) over the nuts.
• Fold the remaining sheets of phyllo dough to fit the pan. Reserve 2 sheets for the topping. Stack the phyllo over THE NUTS, brushing each layer with butter. Fold the edges of the phyllo that extend beyond the pan in toward the center. Top with the last 2 sheets of phyllo, folded to fit the pan; tuck any protruding edges down inside the rim of the pan. Brush with the remaining butter.
• Using a razor blade or small sharp knife, cut through the top layers of the dough down to THE NUTS to mark the pie in 8 wedge shapes.
• Bake until well browned and heated through (45 minutes to an hour).
• Remove the pan sides.
• Sift confectioner's sugar and 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon over the top.
• Serve immediately, cut into the marked wedges.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 360 degrees.
• Place chicken breasts in a small saucepan and cover with bouillon and water.
• Poach over medium-low heat, just below the boiling point.
• Cook 8 to 10 minutes, until no longer pink in center.
• Dice chicken.
• Reserve bouillon.
• In a small bowl, whisk eggs with 1/2 cup reserved bouillon and chopped parsley.
• In a separate bowl, mix together cinnamon and sugar.
• Roll out one sheet of pastry into a 12 inch square.
• Cut other sheet of pastry in half and roll out into two 8 inch squares.
• Fit 12 inch square of pastry into a 9 inch pie pan.
• Spread half of diced chicken evenly across bottom of pastry.
• Pour half of egg mixture over chicken.
• Sprinkle with half of cinnamon and sugar mixture, then with salt and pepper.
• Cover with one 8 inch square of pastry.
• Cover pastry square with remaining chicken, egg mixture, and cinnamon and sugar.
• Sprinkle with more salt and pepper.
• Cover with remaining pastry square.
• Fold edges of bottom pastry over top of pie.
• Brush with melted butter or margarine.
• Sprinkle additional sugar and cinnamon on top, if desired.
• Bake in preheated oven for 40 minutes, until golden brown. Serve lukewarm or cold.

Steps:

• In large skillet or 5-quart dutch oven, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium-high heat. Add chicken breasts and cook until golden brown on all sides-about 5 minutes. Remove chicken from skillet and set aside.
• In same large skillet, add onions, garlic, ginger, and remaining 1 tablespoon oil; saute, stirring constantly, just until onions are translucent. Stir in cinnamon, cumin, ground coriander, red pepper, turmeric, and saffron. Reduce heat to low and cook, stirring constantly, until onions are completely coated with spices-about 3 minutes.
• Increase heat to high. Add broth, fresh coriander, and parsley to skillet with onion mixture. Heat to boiling, stirring to combine. Return chicken to skillet, cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer until chicken is tender, approximately 30 minutes.
• Remove chicken from skillet to plate and set aside to cool. Continue to cook onion mixture, covered, until almost dry, about 15 minutes. Add eggs, salt, and pepper to onion mixture.Cook until soft curds form, about 3 minutes. Remove skillet from heat and set onion-egg mixture aside to cool.
• Topping:. Heat oven to 375 degrees F. Spread almonds on ungreased baking sheet and place in oven for 7 minutes or until lightly toasted. In food processor with chopping blade (or by hand), process almonds with sugar and cinnamon until coarsely ground.
• When chicken is cool enough to handle, remove and discard skin and bones. Tear chicken into 2-inch-long strips.
• To assemble bastilla, place phyllo between 2 sheets of waxed paper, then cover with damp towel. (Phyllo dries out very quickly. Each time you remove a sheet, be sure to cover remaining sheets with damp towel.) Brush 12-inch pizza pan with some melted butter. Remove 1 sheet of Phyllo and place on pan, letting the edges hang over the rim. Brush phyllo sheet with butter. Working quickly, stack and butter 11 more sheets, arranging them in the pan in an overlapping, circular fashion (like a pinwheel).
• On center of phyllo, in even layers, arrange half the Topping, half of onion-egg mixture, all of chicken strips, the remaining onion-egg mixture, and the remaining Topping, Fold overhanging phyllo over top of bastilla and brush top with butter.
• Continue to butter and arrange 12 phyllo sheets in the same pinwheel fashion over top of bastilla (as before). Carefully tuck the overhanging ends underneath it. Brush top and side of bastills with butter. Cover loosely with foil.(At this point, can be refrigerated two hours or up to 2 days before baking).
• Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Bake bastilla 20 minutes or until golden. (If bastilla has been chilled, bake 5 to 10 minutes longer.) Place a baking sheet or another 12-inch pizza pan over the bastilla and invert so that the underside is now on top. Return to oven on the new pan (or slide back onto original pan) and bake 25 minutes longer or until crisp and golden.
• If desired, sprinkle confectioners' sugar and ground cinnamon on top of bastilla.
• Note: Ground saffron is available in specialty shops. If you can't find it, crumble the commonly found saffron threads before measuring.