MOORISH CHICKEN AND NUT PIE

Moorish Chicken and Nut Pie image

From The New Spanish Table. According to the author, this is a specialty in many bakeshops in the Andalusian city of Granada and local food historians like to say that the recipe was made by the Moorish aristocracy of the Alhambra palace and then kept alive in a convent by nuns - though it is more likely that it is borrowed from the city's large North African community. If you use store-bought roast chicken and frozen puff pastry, the pie is quite simple to make. Like many dishes with a combination of spices, this would benefit from making the chicken mixture a day ahead and assembling the pie the next day. I have also made this with a combination of cooked chicken and canned chickpeas.

Provided by pattikay in L.A.

Categories Chicken

Time 1h15m

Yield 6-8 serving(s)

Number Of Ingredients 19

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Ingredients

3 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, quartered and thinly sliced
1/2 cup chicken stock, plus additional for sprinkling
3 cups cooked chicken, in bite size pieces
1 tablespoon sweet paprika
1/2 teaspoon cumin
3/4 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon cayenne
2 plum tomatoes, chopped
1/3 cup dark raisin
coarse salt
flour, for dusting
2 sheets frozen puff pastry, thawed
1/4 cup pine nuts, lightly toasted
1/4 cup slivered almonds, lightly toasted
1 large egg yolk
1 1/2 teaspoons milk
confectioners' sugar, for dusting

Steps:

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. add the onion and cook till it begins to soften, 3-5 minutes.
Reduce heat to low and cook till the onion is very soft but barely browned, about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally and adding a little more olive oil and 1-2 t of chicken stock if the skillet looks dry.
stir in the chicken and cook for 1 minute.
Add the paprika, cumin, ginger, cinnamon and cayenne and stir for a few seconds.
add the 1/2 cup chicken stock, the tomatoes and raisins and cover the skillet and cook for 12-15 minutes.
the filling should be soft and moist; if it seems a little too wet, increase the heat to high for a few seconds so the liquid reduces.
season the filling with salt to taste and let it cool completely.
the filling can be prepared up to a day ahead and refrigerated, covered.
place the oven rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 375. lightly brush a 17x11 inch baking sheet with olive oil.
lightly flour the work surface. using a floured rolling pin, roll out 1 sheet of puff pastry to a roughly 18x12 inch rectangle.
transfer it to the oiled baking sheet. (I wasn't really precise in my rolling out of the pastry sheet - I know I didn't roll it out to 18 inches).
roll out the remaining sheet of puff pastry to a rectangle that is slightly smaller than the first.
spread the filling evenly over the pastry on the baking sheet, leaving about 1 inch bare along each of the 4 edges.
sprinkle the pine nuts and almonds evenly on top.
cover the filling with the second pastry rectangle. fold the edges of the bottom crust up over the top and crimp edges.
place the egg yolk and milk in a small bowl and whisk to mix.
brush the top of the pie with this egg wash.
using a sharp knife, make slits all over the top crust to allow steam to escape.
bake the pie on the center rack till golden brown and baked through, about 30 minutes.
let the pie cool till slightly warm or room temperature.
dust very lightly with confectioners' sugar, cut into squares.