Portabella Pastilla

Submitted by Mrs B

"Pastilla is a North African pie. Traditionally the main ingredient is chicken, but I've developed a vegetarian version that keeps the unusual combination of savoury and sweet flavours. The recipe incorporated other adjustments to fit RSC 2005, but these are still be within the origins of this dish. Soaking time for the dried fruit is not included. I've edited this to read better for for Zaar World Tour 2005!"

Download

Ready In:: 1hr
Ingredients:: 15
Serves:: 4

ingredients

3 large portabella mushrooms, cut into 1/4 inch thick slices (about 250g)
1 large onion, sliced thinly
¹⁄₄ cup red wine
¹⁄₄ cup dried apricot, whole
¹⁄₄ cup raisins
1 teaspoon cumin seed
2 teaspoons dried coriander
2 tablespoons olive oil
¹⁄₄ cup butter
4 large eggs
1 tablespoon butter
¹⁄₄ cup powdered sugar, plus extra to decorate
¹⁄₄ cup toasted sliced almonds
1 (200 g) package phyllo dough (fresh not frozen sheets)
fresh ground black pepper

directions

Soak the dried apricots and raisins in the red wine until they plump up, or at least for 1 hour.
Heat the olive oil in a large lidded frying pan, stir the cumin seeds and 1 tsp dried coriander into the oil and allow spices to sizzle for a few seconds before adding the onion; fry gently until the onion just begins to soften.
Add the mushrooms to the pan, stir, then place the lid on the pan; leave the mixture to cook on a low heat for 3 to 5 minutes until the mushroom slices soften and start to absorb the oil.
Remove pan from heat, then pour the fruity wine mixture over the contents of the frying pan; return the pan to the heat, replace lid and leave to simmer for 5 minutes.
Take the lid off the pan and continue cooking the mushroom mixture, taking care not to let the contents of the pan dry out completely (but feel free to add a drop of water - or more wine - if it does look too dry!); remove pan from the heat when the juices and wine have reduced down to a sauce that coats the mushroom mixture; replace pan lid and set the mixture aside.
Melt the 1/4 cup of butter and brush some over the surface of a straight sided round baking tin, measuring 2 inches deep and 7 inches across.
Reserving a few sheets of phyllo for the top of the pie (keep them covered until you are ready to close up the pie) line the tin with the phyllo, brushing each sheet with the melted butter (but remembering to save some for the top of the pies) and placing sheets evenly round the tin and so that they overhang the edges; the base and sides of the pie should be leak-proof.
Spoon the mushroom mixture into the pie shell.
Beat the eggs, heat the remaining 1 tbsp butter in a pan, add the eggs and scramble them lightly; remove from the heat while they are still slightly runny and stir in a good 'grind' of black pepper; pour the scrambled eggs over the mushroom mixture in the pie shell.
Mix the powdered sugar and toasted flaked almonds together with the remaining 1tsp of dried coriander; sprinkle it evenly over the scrambled egg.
Now finish constructing the pie by bringing the edges of the phyllo sheets up over the top of the pie, brushing them with the melted butter as you work; tuck the last sheets of phyllo over the top of the pie, score a diamond pattern with a sharp knife then brush with last drops of melted butter.
Cook the pie in a preheated oven at 375°F/190°C for about 20 minutes until the top is is golden.
Remove from the tin carefully and dust lightly with powdered sugar.
NB: This recipe measures in Australian cups, which at 250 ml per cup, are a bit bigger than American cup sizes; there shouldn't be a noticeable difference, especially for the 1/4 cup measurements, but if you are using an American cup you might like to be slightly generous in your measuring.

Questions & Replies

Got a question? Share it with the community!

Reviews

Have any thoughts about this recipe? Share it with the community!

RECIPE SUBMITTED BY

Mrs B

Worcester Park, Surrey

I live with my husband and 2 cats in Worcester Park; a quiet typical 1930s suburb (which no one has ever heard of!) about 12 miles South West of London. I'm a fair weather gardener and as my husband is a vegetarian I grow a few easy vegetables, such as tomatoes and peppers, mainly in containers. My husband loves growing flowers, the brighter the better, and we have a pretty garden as a result. Our cats, Araminta and Purrl, like it too! I do a lot of cooking and try to keep our diet as healthy and varied as possible. Although I work full time, I use very little in the way of pre-prepared foods. This is partly because of the limited choice of vegetarian meals, which I think are overpriced anyway; but mainly because I like to know what goes in my food! I love using the Internet for all the great ideas it gives me. Last year I participated in the Zaar World Tour (under my previous public name Caroline Blakey), which was great. Mr B and I tried lots of new foods and discovered new favourite meals. Researching recipes for the Tour was really interesting, however as I didn't have time to try them all, some were posted untested. I'm still working my way very slowly through them. To make matters worse I keep seeing other recipes I want to save and have also participated in Zaar world Tour II. So many recipes, so little time to make them! <img src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b112/kzbhansen/Banners/Animation3.gif"> My 'rules' for posting recipes are a) if I wouldn't make a particular recipe, I won't post it and b) if my husband wouldn't eat it, I won't post it. This means that all my recipes are vegetarian friendly. As you will see from the number of recipes saved in my cookbooks, I particularly enjoy making jams and chutneys; I'd say it was one of my favourite hobbies. We always have a good supply of home preserves; my friends and work colleagues are well supplied too. If we won the lottery (say £5m, as a good number) we'd like to give up work, move to the country and buy a place with a bit of land. In my dreams this would be a manor house or old vicarage, with a walled garden, an orchard where I could keep hens, a vegetable garden, etc, etc, etc! In my more realistic moments (the £1m win perhaps) I would like to run a B&B, perhaps offering Vegetarian taster weekends. Luckily it costs nothing to dream.......I’d also love more time to read, do embroidery, learn a language, see more of the countryside; and of course play on Zaar.

View Full Profile