Having made this pie so many times and loving it more with each yummy bite, I thought I’d share it with you!  So let’s have a savoury break with this delightful Moroccan chicken pie flavoured with ground pistachios or almonds, parsley, ginger, garlic, cinammon, turmeric, saffron, orange blossom water and orange zest.  Yes, that’s one flavoursome pie!  The recipe’s based on the Hairy Bikers’ Moroccan Pastilla, which includes chopped dates that I’ve replaced with sour cherries for a lovely tangier alternative.  And it’s encased in shop-bought filo pastry interspersed with a little melted butter to give a wonderfully light, flaky and crispy crust.  You can make a large pie or little ones – they’ll all be absolutely delicious and addictive!  Hold on, I’m off to have another bite…! 🙂

Mini Moroccan chicken pie

Ok, I’m back again.  Hey, want to see all the different versions of this pie?  Or prototypes as I like to call them.  As the Hairy Bikers say it isn’t a problem that this pie’s ‘rustic’ (lol) because it’s the amazing flavours that count.  But if I wanted to serve these for a special occasion or picnic I’d maybe make the small individual ones.  They hold together better so they’re easier to eat with your hands and cute too!

Moroccan chicken pies

Strangely enough this pie always feels kind of healthy when I eat it.  Obviously it’s not vegetarian but I do use free-range chicken and eggs.  And my body seems to enjoy the protein (and deliciousness).  So I’ll keep making this again.. and again!  Want to join me?  Here’s the recipe! 🙂

THE RECIPE

This pie’s based on a recipe in the Hairy Bikers’ Chicken & Egg book.  If you aren’t familiar with these two jolly chefs, they also have a TV series where they usually vroom around the country looking for yummy recipes and meeting people.  They have a slightly whacky sense of humour and do a lot of squawking and poultry jokes on the Chicken & Egg series.  I love them.  And most importantly their meat and pie dishes are amazing!  Spot on.  I’ve just adapted their recipe by using skinless chicken thighs and sour cherries instead of dates, halving the quantities, adding fresh ginger instead of ground, and making some mini pies too.  You can play around with the recipe as you will.  The quantities and ingredients are kind of flexible.  Oh the joy of cooking! 🙂

Moroccan chicken pie

• 1 and 1/2 to 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 400g/14oz free-range boneless chicken thighs (trimmed of fat, etc), skinless but you can buy with the skin too
• 6g (1 dollop/1 and 1/4 tsp) unsalted butter
• 1 medium-large onion
• 1 and 1/2 to 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
• 1 tsp freshly-grated ginger (or 1/2 tsp ground ginger)
• 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground turmeric
• pinch of saffron
• 250ml/g chicken stock
• 2 eggs (medium-large free-range), beaten (110-120g)
• 37g/1/3 cup and 1/2 tablespoon ground pistachios or almonds
• 37g/1/4 cup dried sour cherries (or dates), then chop finely
• 1/2 tablespoon orange blossom water
• 1/2 tsp finely-grated orange zest
• 2 tbsp finely-chopped parsley
• fine sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper, to taste

Eating and storing

Wait 30 minutes then eat warm or at room temperature.  It keeps in the fridge up to 3 or so days – let the pie come back to room temperature before eating … and eating… and … yum yum!   Would you like some Moroccan chicken pie?! 🙂

Moroccan chicken pie

Hope you’ve enjoyed our little trip into savouryland dear reader!  Wishing you a lovely week with lots of well-spiced treats – happy baking and eating! 🙂  Lili x

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save