Vegetable Pastilla, a vegetarian recipe

Name: Vegetable Pastilla
Prep time: 40 min
Cook time: 50 min
Total time: 90 min
Yield: 6
Cuisine: Morocco
Ingredients: 12 sheets of warqa or filo pastry; 900 g butternut squash, diced; 3 onions, sliced; 150 g blanched almonds; 100 g melted butter; 2 tsp ground cinnamon; 1 tsp ground ginger; 1 pinch saffron; 2 tbsp honey; 1 bunch coriander, chopped; 3 tbsp icing sugar; Salt and pepper

Method

Toast the almonds in the oven for 8 minutes at 180C. Chop them with 1 tsp of the cinnamon and 1 tbsp of the icing sugar.
Soften the onions in 30 g of the butter over low heat for 20 minutes, with the saffron and ginger.
Add the squash and honey, cover and cook for 15 minutes. Crush with a fork, then uncover to drive off the water.
Stir in the coriander and season. The filling should sit on a spoon without running.
Butter a 24 cm round tin. Lay 7 sheets in a star, hanging over the rim, buttering between each.
Spread half the almonds, then the filling, then the rest of the almonds. Fold the overhang in and close with the remaining buttered sheets.
Bake for 35 minutes at 190C. Turn out, dust with icing sugar and draw lines of cinnamon across the top.

Sugar on a savoury pie surprises European palates, but it comes from an Andalusian tradition where sweet and salt share one dish. Filo stands in for warqa without trouble, so long as you double the sheets.

The techniques this recipe uses

Sweat the aromatics
Medium heat, no browning: the onion should turn translucent and sweet, not toasted.

Frequently asked questions

Can this pastilla be made vegan?

Yes, by swapping the 100 g of melted butter for a mild olive oil or a good margarine, and the honey for agave syrup. Check the filo, which is usually dairy free but not always. The colour will be slightly less deep, which makes no difference to the crispness.

Why must the filling hold on the spoon without running?

Because any remaining moisture will soak through the bottom sheets during the thirty-five minutes in the oven and leave a soft grey base. Squash gives off a lot of water: after mashing it, let it steam off uncovered until the mixture holds together, even if that takes a few extra minutes.

How do I stop the filo sheets tearing?

They dry out and turn brittle within minutes in the open air. Keep the stack under a clean, slightly damp cloth and take out one sheet at a time. Brush each with butter before laying the next, and use them doubled, since filo is far thinner than warqa.

Vegetable Pastilla

Method

The techniques this recipe uses

This recipe also appears in

Nutrition per serving

Frequently asked questions

Read more

Have you cooked this dish?

More recipes from Morocco

Moroccan Orange and Cinnamon Salad

Maakouda

Taktouka

Recipes in the same spirit