Portabella Pastilla Recipes

Steps:

• Trim hard parts from mushrooms and discard. Rinse mushrooms quickly to remove grit; cut caps into slices and stems into small chunks. Combine in a medium skillet with 1 clove garlic (crushed and peeled), thyme, olive oil and some salt and pepper. Cook over sufficiently low heat so that mixture bubbles but mushrooms do not brown. Continue to cook, stirring infrequently, until they are quite shrunken in size and appear firm, 30 to 45 minutes. (At this point, you can pause for several hours before resuming cooking.) If you are using porcinis, soak them in hot water to cover for a few minutes so that they soften.
• Set a large pot of water to boil for pasta and salt it. Mince remaining garlic. Turn heat under oil to medium, and add garlic to the portobellos along with the drained porcinis. Cook, stirring occasionally, until garlic begins to color. Add tomatoes and raise heat to medium high. Cook, stirring occasionally, until they break up and become saucy, about 15 minutes.
• Meanwhile, cook pasta until it is tender but not mushy. Taste sauce and adjust its seasoning. When pasta is done, drain it, toss with sauce, top with Parmesan, and serve.

Steps:

• Soak the dried apricots and raisins in the red wine until they plump up, or at least for 1 hour.
• Heat the olive oil in a large lidded frying pan, stir the cumin seeds and 1 tsp dried coriander into the oil and allow spices to sizzle for a few seconds before adding the onion; fry gently until the onion just begins to soften.
• Add the mushrooms to the pan, stir, then place the lid on the pan; leave the mixture to cook on a low heat for 3 to 5 minutes until the mushroom slices soften and start to absorb the oil.
• Remove pan from heat, then pour the fruity wine mixture over the contents of the frying pan; return the pan to the heat, replace lid and leave to simmer for 5 minutes.
• Take the lid off the pan and continue cooking the mushroom mixture, taking care not to let the contents of the pan dry out completely (but feel free to add a drop of water - or more wine - if it does look too dry!); remove pan from the heat when the juices and wine have reduced down to a sauce that coats the mushroom mixture; replace pan lid and set the mixture aside.
• Melt the 1/4 cup of butter and brush some over the surface of a straight sided round baking tin, measuring 2 inches deep and 7 inches across.
• Reserving a few sheets of phyllo for the top of the pie (keep them covered until you are ready to close up the pie) line the tin with the phyllo, brushing each sheet with the melted butter (but remembering to save some for the top of the pies) and placing sheets evenly round the tin and so that they overhang the edges; the base and sides of the pie should be leak-proof.
• Spoon the mushroom mixture into the pie shell.
• Beat the eggs, heat the remaining 1 tbsp butter in a pan, add the eggs and scramble them lightly; remove from the heat while they are still slightly runny and stir in a good 'grind' of black pepper; pour the scrambled eggs over the mushroom mixture in the pie shell.
• Mix the powdered sugar and toasted flaked almonds together with the remaining 1tsp of dried coriander; sprinkle it evenly over the scrambled egg.
• Now finish constructing the pie by bringing the edges of the phyllo sheets up over the top of the pie, brushing them with the melted butter as you work; tuck the last sheets of phyllo over the top of the pie, score a diamond pattern with a sharp knife then brush with last drops of melted butter.
• Cook the pie in a preheated oven at 375°F/190°C for about 20 minutes until the top is is golden.
• Remove from the tin carefully and dust lightly with powdered sugar.
• NB: This recipe measures in Australian cups, which at 250 ml per cup, are a bit bigger than American cup sizes; there shouldn't be a noticeable difference, especially for the 1/4 cup measurements, but if you are using an American cup you might like to be slightly generous in your measuring.

Steps:

• In a large pot, put chicken cut into quarters with salt, pepper and ginger along with enough water to cover. Cook on heat heat until chicken is soft and falling from the bones. Remove from liquid, skin and debone the chicken, and cut meat into small pieces and set aside.
• In same large pot, add the six eggs one by one, beating as you go. When all are beaten in and almost set, remove mixture and let cool, dividing into two parts and discarding any liquid. Chop the browned almonds and divide into two.
• In a 9x12 inch baking dish, begin the assembly by placing four sheets of the philo dough, brushing oil over each sheet before placing the next on top. Next, place in 1/2 the egg mixture and sprinkle sugar and cinnamon on top. Place two more philo sheets (with oil between), and place 1/2 the chicken. Sprinkle this with sugar and cinammon too. Next Place 2 more philo sheets (with oil between), and place 1/2 the almond mixture in, sprinkling with sugar and cinammon on top. Cover this with 2 more philo sheets, and start this assembly process again. Two sheets philo, almonds, two sheets philo, chicken, two sheets philo, eggs, two sheets philo.
• Brush the top of the last sheets of philo with beaten egg. Bake at 350 degrees until golden, 25-35 minutes.

Steps:

• Cook pasta according to package directions for al dente. Meanwhile, cut mushrooms in half and thinly slice. In a large skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Add mushrooms; saute until tender, 8-10 minutes. Add garlic; cook 1 minute longer. Stir in tomatoes and olives. Reduce heat to low; cook, uncovered, until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Stir in herbs, salt and pepper., Drain pasta, reserving 1/4 cup pasta water. Toss pasta with mushroom mixture, adjusting consistency with reserved pasta water. Sprinkle with cheeses.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9x13 inch baking dish.
• Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Place pasta in the pot, cook for 8 to 10 minutes, until al dente, and drain.
• Heat the oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the mushrooms, cook 1 minute, and set aside. Melt margarine in the saucepan. Mix in flour, garlic, and basil. Gradually mix in milk until thickened. Stir in 1 cup cheese until melted. Remove saucepan from heat, and mix in cooked pasta, mushrooms, spinach, and soy sauce. Transfer to the prepared baking dish, and top with remaining cheese.
• Bake 20 minutes in the preheated oven, until bubbly and lightly brown.

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.