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My Take on Moroccan Chicken Bastilla

Cook Time:

60 - 65 minutes

Serves:

6 large Bastilla

My Take on Moroccan Chicken Bastilla

500 g chicken breast
1 large carrot, shredded
Leaves from 6 sprigs of coriander finely chopped
Leaves from 1 pack (15 g) Parsley finely chopped
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
½ teaspoon powdered Turmeric (or 2 fresh roots)
¼ teaspoon powdered Cinnamon
20cm by 20cm fresh root Ginger, peeled and grated
2 dessert spoons vegetable oil
400 millilitres gluten free vegetable or chicken stock
3 dessert spoons honey
3 large free range eggs
2 free range egg yolks
100 g unsalted blanched almonds
2 packs gluten free puff pastry (I used Croustipate)
20 g butter gently clarified (melted)

Begin by trimming any excess fat or sinew from the chicken breasts. Heat a large deep saucepan with 1 dessert spoons of oil and, when hot, stir fry first the ginger for 1 minutes then add the grated carrot and stir fry for another 1-2 minutes. Now add the chicken, stock and spices, stir thoroughly and cook covered with a lid for 20 minutes, occasionally turning the chicken breasts. Once the time is up, pre-heat the oven to 190 degrees Celsius and remove the chicken from the saucepan to a chopping board to cool. Add the honey to the saucepan and stir in while simmering for a good 3 minutes. Now add 3 large free range raw eggs and, while constantly stirring, cook for another 5 minutes. When the time is up, drain through a sieve and leave do drip (you do not need the liquid anymore, only the egg mix).

Now return to the chicken, which should be cool enough to handle by now. Use 2 forks to shred the chicken apart then reserve to a plate. Continue by heating 1 dessert spoon of oil in a frying pan then adding the almonds and, stirring constantly, cook for around 3 minutes until they turn a light brown colour. Once toasted, place in a kitchen blender and blend to a powder/paste that you should then tip out onto another plate. You are now ready to assemble the Bastillas.

Remove the gluten free pastry from the fridge and spread onto a kitchen surface. Cut the sheet in half in the middle then slice through three times to form 6 pieces. Carefully use the egg yolk to form a border around the edge of a piece of pastry then baste the centre with the clarified (melted but not cooked) butter. To the centre of the piece add some of the chicken, then add a layer of the egg mixture and finally top with the almond paste then take the corresponding piece of pastry and place on top. Seal the edges together with the egg yolk border then place upside down on a sheet of baking paper on a baking tray. Continue until you have used up all the pastry and filling then baste the tops of the Bastillas with clarified butter and bake in the oven for 15 minutes. Then remove and turn over the Bastillas and baste again with clarified butter before baking for a final 15 minutes.

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