Vegetable Pastilla Recipes

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to fan 180C/ conventional 200C/gas 6. Dry fry the seeds briefly in a small pan over a medium heat until toasty - don't let them burn. Grind coarsely using a pestle and mortar (or a bowl and the end of a rolling pin), then mix in the paprika, cinnamon, 1⁄2 tsp salt and 4 tbsp oil. Tip the squash into a roasting tin, pour over the spiced oil and toss. Roast for 20 minutes.
• Meanwhile, heat 2 tbsp of oil in a frying pan, add the shallots and cook, stirring, until they start to brown. Stir in the ginger and 100g/4oz each almonds and pistachios.When brown, toss in the cranberries, 2 tbsp honey, and the spinach so it wilts. Take off the heat and stir into the squash, when it comes out of the oven. Set aside.
• In a food processor, whizz the chickpeas with the garlic, cumin, remaining oil, lemon juice, 2 tbsp water and salt and pepper to make houmous. Stir in the coriander.
• Melt the butter in a small pan. Put a loose-bottomed 28cm quiche tin on a baking sheet and brush with some butter. Keeping the filo covered with a damp cloth so it doesn't dry out, lay one sheet over half of the tin so that it hangs over the edge by about 10cm. Lay another sheet on the other side, so it overlaps the first in the centre and hangs over the opposite edge. Brush with butter. Lay two more filo sheets in the opposite direction in the same way and brush with more butter.
• Build up two more layers in this way, so you use a total of eight sheets of filo. Pile half the squash mixture in the centre of the pastry. Spread over the houmous and then the rest of the squash mixture.One at a time, bring the edge of each filo sheet up to the centre to cover the filling, creating voluptuous folds as you go. Brush carefully with more butter. (If making a day ahead, cover now with cling film and chill. To reheat, remove the pie from the fridge, heat the oven, then bake for 35-40 minutes.)
• Bake for 30-35 minutes, until crisp and golden. Just before the pie is ready, reheat any remaining butter in the pan, tip in the rest of the nuts and fry until golden. Spoon in the 4 remaining tbsps of honey and, when it melts, take off the heat and pour over the pie. Serve with Harissa yogurt sauce (mix the yogurt and milk together to make a thin sauce, stir in the herbs and season. Swirl in harissa to taste) and lemon wedges.

Steps:

• 6 ramekins (4-inch diameter by 3-inch depth) or 9 to 10-inch deep dish pie pan.
• Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
• Season all the vegetables with salt and pepper and grill, keeping them separate. Cook the couscous separately, as instructed, and reserve in a ceramic mold. In the ramekins or pie pan, place 2 sheets of filo, buttering between layers. Begin to layer all vegetables, ending with the couscous. In between each layer add pressure in order to mold. Fold flaps of filo over to seal. Seal with butter, turn out onto a sheet pan, and brush top with butter. Bake for 25 minutes. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and ground cinnamon. If using a pie pan, cut into wedges and serve.

Steps:

• Heat 1 tbsp oil in a large casserole dish and cook the onion and garlic for 8 mins until soft. Add the spices and stir for about 30 seconds until aromatic, then add the chicken. Pour in the chicken stock and season. Cover with a lid and leave to simmer for 45 mins, or until the chicken is tender.
• Lift the chicken pieces onto a plate. Add the honey and almonds to the cooking liquid and simmer until thick and reduced by half, then turn off the heat. Meanwhile, finely shred the chicken with two forks, discarding the skin and bones. Return the chicken to the sauce and stir in the lemon zest and juice, apricots and parsley, then leave to cool. Can be chilled for up to two days.
• Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6 with a baking sheet on the middle shelf. Unwrap the pastry, keeping any you're not working with under a damp tea towel so it doesn't dry out. Brush a 22-23cm springform or loose-bottomed round tin with a little oil. Push two pastry sheets into the tin to line the base, brushing them with melted butter and leaving a little extra up the sides. Repeat this with two more sheets across the other diameter of the tin so all sides are lined. Patch up any holes or thin patches with another sheet of buttered pastry.
• Spoon in the chicken mixture and pat down evenly. Sit another two sheets of pastry on top, brushing the melted butter between the layers again, and scrunching the edges of the pastry around the sides. Brush the top with a little more butter and bake on the heated baking sheet for 30 mins until crisp and golden brown. It's best eaten warm, so leave to cool for about 30 mins. Dust with a pinch of icing sugar and cinnamon to serve, if you like.

Steps:

• THE CRUST: If frozen, thaw out 1/2 pound (half a package) philo dough in the refrigerator for at least 8 hours.
• THE MEAT FILLING: In a large pan, combine 4 chicken breasts (cubed); 1 small onion (coarsely chopped); 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, 1 teaspoons fresh thyme (or 1/8 teaspoons dried); and 2 cups of water. At this point, you could also add any vegetables you like such as mushrooms (sliced); green peas, a potato (peeled and cubed); a carrot (peeled and diced); kernels of corn; etc. Bring to a boil and then simmer until the vegetables and meat are thoroughly cooked (20-30 minutes).
• THE NUTS: Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Place 1 cup almonds (finely chopped) in a shallow baking pan. Bake, stirring occasionally until golden brown (10-15 minutes). Cool.
• THE SPICES: In a small bowl, mix 1/4 cup brown sugar, 2 teaspoons cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger, and 1/4 teaspoons ground nutmeg.
• THE ONION MIXTURE: In a large frying pan, cook 1 small onion (finely chopped), in 3 tablespoons butter or margarine until limp but not browned.
• THE OTHER FILLING: In a medium bowl, whisk together 6 eggs; 2 cloves of garlic (finely chopped); 1 teaspoons salt; 1/4 teaspoons black pepper (freshly ground); and 2 tablespoons fresh mild mint or parsley (chopped). Add to the ONION MIXTURE (from above) and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, until eggs are softly set. Remove from heat.
• THE PASTILLA: Melt 1 cup butter or margarine. Use a brush to grease a 9-inch springform pan generously. Unroll the sheets of the phyllo dough so that they lie flat. Cover the dough with waxed paper and a wet paper towel so that they don't dry out. Line the pan with 1 sheet of dough, allowing the dough to extend over the edge of the pan. Brush the piece of dough generously with butter. Top with another piece of dough and brush with butter. Continue this until you have 8 layers of butter-brushed phyllo dough.
• FILLING THE PASTILLA: For the filling, add a layer of THE MEAT FILLING (from above), THE OTHER FILLING (from above), and then THE NUTS (from above). Sprinkle THE SPICES (from above) over the nuts.
• Fold the remaining sheets of phyllo dough to fit the pan. Reserve 2 sheets for the topping. Stack the phyllo over THE NUTS, brushing each layer with butter. Fold the edges of the phyllo that extend beyond the pan in toward the center. Top with the last 2 sheets of phyllo, folded to fit the pan; tuck any protruding edges down inside the rim of the pan. Brush with the remaining butter.
• Using a razor blade or small sharp knife, cut through the top layers of the dough down to THE NUTS to mark the pie in 8 wedge shapes.
• Bake until well browned and heated through (45 minutes to an hour).
• Remove the pan sides.
• Sift confectioner's sugar and 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon over the top.
• Serve immediately, cut into the marked wedges.