Pastilla

Several years ago, my son T had a friend who would bring his father's homemade Pastilla when he came to visit. It was always devoured shortly upon arrival. Yousef was the sweetest thing, and his dad was an awesome cook. I stuck my foot in my mouth one day and said it must not be hard to make, because he brought it to us so often. Little did I know.

Unfortunately, Yousef doesn't visit anymore, so I have to go to Mataam Fez restaurant when I want it. The place is great, authentic decor, superb service and belly dancers, but hubby can only stand so much of it.

Pastilla is a wonderful pie made with phyllo dough, seasoned chicken, eggs, crushed almonds and topped with powdered sugar. A sweet savory delight that is eaten direct from the plate with your fingers, if eaten traditionally. My first Pastilla had far less sugar than the one served at Mataam Fez. Hubby didn't like the sugar, so mine was made with just a light dusting. Making the pie became easier than finding the right recipe for it.

Since I thoroughly enjoyed his father's version, I called Yousef and asked for his recipe. He was able to give me this
link. Not exactly the same but very close. I suspect his dad is still angry with me for making light of the process.

I didn't like the Spanakopita style of wrapping, so I asked my friend Stephanie of Chef Tess Bakeresse for a recipe. She gave me this link.

It sounded absolutely wonderful, but again very time consuming. I went to YouTube to view a few demos of how to layer the pie, because I really wanted one big pie made in my cast iron pan. There are oodles and oodles of videos, so after watching a few of them, I believed I had if figured out.

This is the recipe I used in the end, because it was less labor intensive. Their photo is "prettier" too!