A Moroccan-South African-Venetian Ghetto-Quick B'stilla

Remember in the movie Evita when Madonna sings, "You Must Love Me," tears streaming down her cheeks (or were those mine?) as she looks heavenward?
After tasting my dinner this evening, I wanted to cry tears of joy and plead to everyone, "You must make this," because it is so utterly delicious. I feel just as impassioned as Madonna/Eva Perone looked.
You must. Make. This.
Bear with me, because I didn't expect anything spectacular to occur tonight, and as usual, wasn't paying much attention or measuring.
But we can deconstruct together. You would need:
-Phyllo dough & requisite melted butter or olive oil or combination thereof for brushing
-Onion
-Garlic
-Chicken breasts cooked in fiery spices
-Chopped parsley
-Beaten eggs (I used two.)
-Sliced almonds
-Golden raisins
-The jewel in the crown: Belazu Rose Harissa. Or harissa.

Starting out, I wanted to make a simplified version of a B'stilla, which is an amazing Moroccan dish made of phyllo stuffed with all sorts of flavorful ingredients, including (sometimes) squab and saffron. The first time I made it, I basically followed Diana Henry's recipe from Crazy Water Pickled Lemons, substituting ground beef for her guinea fowl (I realize that may sound like a strange substitute, but it seemed fine to me because I'm used to Greek dishes using allspice). Everything within the traditional phyllo pie is delicately infused with cinnamon, which makes for a great sweet-savory taste sensation.
This evening, I set out to make a chicken version for Troy, but really didn't feel like having the cinnamon aspect.
For my spice choice, I used an Elements of Spice mix called Mama Africa from the S. African Cape Herb company.

The mix is described as Southern African in flavor, and is a blend of piri piri chilies, sugar, sea salt, coriander seeds, onion flakes, red bell peppers, black peppercorns, garlic, cumin, lemon, ginger, paprika.
[On another side note, if you decide to buy a tin of Mama Africa, definitely also get a tin of their Bed of Roses spice mix while you're at it -- I'm throwing around a lot of superlatives here, but trust me, it's fantastic -- the best! These spice blends will elevate any BBQ or brai.]
Let's get back on track.
-Sautee the chopped onions until soft; add the garlic and cook but don't let it burn!
-Add the chicken, which you've trimmed, rinsed, patted dry, and sprinkled liberally with spicy spices like the Mama Africa mix.
-Let cool, shred the chicken, and put it in a bowl with chopped parsley, beaten eggs, sliced almonds, golden raisins (a.k.a. sultanas) and a spoonful of harissa.

If you can get a jar of Belazu Rose Harissa, use that. Goooood stuff.

If not, then you need to either fly to the U.K., or ask a friend to send you a jar. Or, I suppose, as an alternative for all you maniacs out there, you can be like the intrepid Sarah and make your own harissa. Still, I don't think even Sarah makes rose harissa. Harissa lends a beautiful depth of heat (although this is by no means a fiery hot pie despite all of these spices).
Moving onward, I'm sure there's no authentic b'stilla that calls for golden raisins, but I added them to the mix because I so love Nigella's recipe for Tagliatelle with Chicken from the Venetian Ghetto, and had a blast of inspiration as I surveyed my chicken mixture. They added just the right sweet note.
When I made this previously, I used a springform pan, but I only have one, which today was held hostage by an apple cake, so I used a baking sheet for this instead. Working reasonably quickly (as one must with phyllo!) I layered sheet upon sheet, brushing in between with butter.
Then added the filling. I could have used twice as much.

Folded it all in, topped with a few more phyllo sheets, and gave it a final brushing of butter before baking it in a 400F-degree oven for 20 minutes.


Mm. Nothing better than a crispy phyllo concoction!

Traditionally, a b'stilla is dusted with confectioner's sugar, which I've not yet been up for, but to each his own.
A little North African, a little South African, & with a touch of the Venetian ghetto thrown in, this pie is so delicious, you will want to sing about it from a balcony.

In the U.S., you can find Elements of Spice rubs at Chelsea Market Baskets