Moroccan Chicken Bastilla

Heat the olive oil in a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the diced onions, minced garlic, ground ginger, cinnamon, turmeric, and saffron. Cook until the onions are soft, translucent, and highly fragrant.

Add the chicken thighs, fresh cilantro, fresh parsley, and chicken stock to the pot. Bring the liquid to a gentle boil, then reduce the heat to low, cover, and cook until the chicken is completely tender and pulls away easily from the bone.

Transfer the cooked chicken to a plate to cool. Once the chicken is cool enough to handle, discard the skin, bones, and cartilage. Finely shred the chicken meat and set it aside.

Increase the heat under the Dutch oven to medium-high. Boil the remaining onion and broth mixture until the liquid has almost entirely evaporated, leaving a thick, jam-like onion reduction.

Whisk the eggs with the lemon juice. Reduce the heat to medium-low and pour the eggs into the onion reduction. Stir vigorously and continuously until the eggs are scrambled, fully cooked, and have absorbed the flavorful sauce. Transfer the mixture to a fine-mesh sieve set over a bowl to drain and cool completely.

In a dry skillet over medium heat, gently warm the blanched almonds until deeply golden brown and aromatic. Transfer to a plate to cool completely.

Place the cooled toasted almonds in a food processor along with 50g of powdered sugar, 5g of ground cinnamon, and the orange blossom water. Pulse until the almonds are coarsely ground but retain a distinct crunch.

Preheat the oven to 190C (375F). Brush the inside of a 10-inch round baking dish generously with melted butter. Lay 6 to 8 sheets of filo pastry in a circular, overlapping pattern inside the dish, allowing half of each sheet to hang over the rim. Brush each individual sheet thoroughly with melted butter as you lay it down.

Spread the fully cooled, drained egg and onion mixture evenly over the bottom of the pastry-lined dish. Top this evenly with the shredded chicken layer, and finally, sprinkle the ground almond mixture evenly over the chicken.

Fold the overhanging filo sheets inward over the filling to enclose it entirely, brushing each fold with butter. Lay 3 to 4 additional sheets of filo over the top, brushing each with butter, and neatly tuck the edges down the inside walls of the pan to create a smooth, taut pie.

Bake in the preheated oven for 35 to 40 minutes until the bastilla is deeply golden, crisp, and heated all the way through. If the top browns too quickly, tent loosely with aluminum foil for the final 15 minutes.

Allow the bastilla to cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Carefully invert it onto a serving platter so the smooth tucked side is facing upward. Dust the entire surface heavily with powdered sugar, and use the remaining ground cinnamon to draw a decorative lattice or criss-cross pattern across the top. Serve warm.