Legend has it that a good Moroccan pastilla recipe should be at least a thousand words long, reflecting the complexity and richness of this royal dish. Often served at weddings and other celebrations, it is about balance — it should be both sweet and savory, tender as well as crunchy.
In his book “Sephardic Cooking: 600 Recipes Created in Exotic Sephardic Kitchens from Morocco to India,” Copeland Marks notes that a pigeon stew first appeared in Andalusian cookbooks from the 13th century. The dish migrated from southern Spain to northern Morocco where it was called bastiya. Over time, it evolved into a pie of sorts wrapped in crispy pastry sheets, and chicken replaced the pigeon meat due to its greater availability outside of Morocco (and eventually within Morocco as well). A dusting of powdered sugar and cinnamon also became hallmarks of the dish in Muslim homes and Jewish ones (who adopted the recipe) as well.
In his book “Moroccan Fantasy,” Gabriel Bensimhon discusses countless styles and traditions of pastilla. The Jewish style in Casablanca, for example, includes chopping and browning onions in oil, which then become part of the pastilla filling. The paper-thin pastry sheets are called “warqa” in Moroccan Arabic, literally meaning paper, in reference to their delicate thickness.
Until a few decades ago, these fragile sheets were produced by women who specialized in the craft, making a runny batter from flour, water, a little oil, and salt, then pouring it onto a hot metal surface. Today, even in Morocco, sheets of dough known as cigar leaves are often used, and in Israel, phyllo sheets are also used for the dish, which is sometimes simplified and shaped into cigars.
“Pastilla is a dish that everyone eats at our place,” says Etti Cohen (69), who was evacuated from her home in Ofakim to a hotel in Tel Aviv. Today, she’s making it at Daniela Holtz’s kitchen in Tel Aviv for the Open Kitchen Project. When Etti makes it at home, she sometimes even makes the pastilla dough from scratch. “Every time I make it, I upgrade it with something new,” she says.
Ingredients
1 package frozen phyllo dough, thawed
For the filling:
½ cup olive oil, divided
2 onions, finely chopped
½ teaspoon baharat
¾ teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon black pepper
2 teaspoons salt
250 grams (8 ounces) Portobello mushrooms, cleaned and roughly chopped
250 grams (8 ounces) button mushrooms, cleaned and roughly chopped
500 grams (1.1lb) boneless chicken thighs, finely chopped by hand
¼ cup almond slivered almonds, finely chopped
100 grams (3½ oz) vacuum-packed chestnuts, finely chopped
Olive oil, for brushing
Preparation
- Prepare the filling: heat ¼ cup oil in a pan over medium heat. Add the chopped onions and saute until golden, about 15 minutes. Add the baharat, turmeric, black pepper, and salt and cook for 1 minute. Add the chopped mushrooms, mix well, and cook for 5 minutes.
- Remove the mixture from the pan and set aside. Heat ¼ cup olive oil in the pan over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and fry until golden, about 5 minutes. Add the mushroom mixture, almonds, and chestnuts, mix well and fry for 1 minute. Drain excess liquids and allow the mixture to cool to room temperature.
- Assemble the pastilla: Preheat the oven to 180C (350F) and line a baking tray with parchment paper.
- Divide each phyllo sheet into 4 equal squares. Brush each square with olive oil and place 1 heaping tablespoon of the filling in the center of the bottom third part.
- Neatly tuck in the sides and roll to a cigar. Transfer to the baking tray, seam side down and repeat with the remaining pastry and filling. Brush with olive oil and bake until the pastilla is crispy and golden, 20-30 minutes.
