Chicken & Almond Pastilla

📝 Ingredients

• 600 g boneless, skinless chicken thighs
• 2 brown onions (about 150 g each)
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon (1 for the chicken, 1 for the almonds)
• 1 tsp ground ginger + ½ tsp turmeric
• 1 chicken stock cube + 200 ml hot water
• ½ bunch fresh coriander (about 25 g)
• 3 eggs
• 60 g almonds + 1 tbsp caster sugar
• 6 brick pastry sheets
• 30 g unsalted butter
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp icing sugar
• Salt, black pepper

🍴 Utensils

• Flameproof casserole dish
• Frying pan
• 24 cm tart tin
• Pastry brush
• 2 forks
• Bowl

📖 Steps

1. Peel and finely slice the onions. Heat the olive oil in the casserole over a medium heat and fry the onions for 5 minutes, until translucent. Add 1 tsp cinnamon, the ginger and the turmeric, and stir for 1 minute.
2. Add the chicken and turn it to coat well in the spices. Dissolve the stock cube in the hot water, pour it in, add half the chopped coriander, season lightly with salt and add pepper. Cover and simmer over a low heat for 35 minutes, until the meat pulls apart with a fork.
3. Meanwhile, dry-toast the almonds in the frying pan over a medium heat for 4 to 5 minutes, stirring, until golden. Leave to cool slightly, roughly chop them and mix with the caster sugar and the second tsp of cinnamon.
4. Preheat the oven to 180 °C. Lift the chicken out of the casserole and shred it with two forks. Reduce the onion sauce over a high heat for 5 to 8 minutes, stirring, until almost no liquid remains: too wet a filling would make the brick pastry soggy.
5. Beat the eggs in the bowl. Lower the heat under the reduced onions, pour in the eggs and stir constantly for 2 to 3 minutes, until you have creamy, just-set scrambled eggs. Off the heat, add the shredded chicken and the rest of the coriander, then adjust the seasoning.
6. Melt the butter in the frying pan over a low heat and brush it over the tin. Lightly brush 4 sheets of brick pastry and arrange them in a rosette in the tin, overlapping in the centre and hanging well over the edges.
7. Spread the chicken filling over the base, then scatter the almond-sugar-cinnamon mixture on top. Cover with a buttered sheet of brick pastry, fold the overhanging edges in towards the centre, then lay the last sheet on top, tucking its edges under the pastilla, as if making a bed.
8. Brush the top with the remaining butter and bake for 25 minutes, until the pastilla is golden and crisp. Leave to rest for 5 minutes, dust with icing sugar through a small sieve and serve hot.