Bastilla (chicken pie)

Prep: 30 Mins

Cook: 40 Mins

Serves: 15 serving

Estimated calorie: 350 per serving

Ingredients

1 pound of phyllo dough 7 oz of butter 1 egg yolk Filling: 1 whole chicken 5 chopped onions 1 cup of oil 1 teaspoon of salt 1/2 teaspoon of pepper 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon of curcuma 1/2 teaspoon of saffron threads Water 1 bunch of parsley (chopped) 8 eggs (beaten) 1 pound of almonds (poached,peeled and roasted/fried) 2 tablespoons of orange blossom water 7 oz of caster sugar Garnish: Ground cinnamon Powdered sugar 3 tablespoons of honey 4 oz of almonds (poached, fried, and crushed)

Step-By-Step Preparation

-In a pot, place and sautée the thoroughly washed chicken with oil, onions, and spices (except for the saffron threads). Stir everything well. Add the saffron threads and water. -Let it cook for about 30 minutes. Add the parsley and stir everything together. -After 5 minutes, transfer the chicken to a dish to cool it down. -Reduce the sauce by stirring it in the pot until most of the liquid is evaporated, -When the onions separate from the oil, add in the beaten eggs gradually, while you keep on stirring. -Once the egg mixture is cooked and homogenized, set it aside. -Now that the chicken is cooled, pick the meat off of the bones, and break into small pieces no bigger than 2 inches. -To prepare the almond stuffing, coarsely grind the roasted/fried almonds with the sugar using a mixer. Then mix it with the orange blossom water. -To assemble the bastilla, grease a circular oven pan with melted butter using a brush. Start layering the phyllo dough sheets around the pan one at a time brushing each one with melted butter, overlapping them, and leaving half of each sheet hanging out of the edges of the pan. Then layer one sheet on top in the center of the pan. -To fill the bastilla, begin with layering the egg mixture, then the picked chicken mixture, thrn some melted butter, then the almond mixture. -Now, cover the filling by folding the overhanging phyllo dough over the almond layer. Top the folded lauers with 1 or 2 phyllo sheets brushed with the egg yolk. Flatten it and tuck it on the sides so as to seal the bastilla. Smooth the edges so as to hide the wrinkles. Brush everything again with butter. -Bake the bastilla in the middle rack of a preheated 350 degree oven for 30 minutes, until it is golden brown. -Decorate the bastilla with honey, almonds, powdered sugar, and cinnamon.