MOROCCAN SPICED CHICKEN PASTILLA

Tweaking traditional delicacies lets you bring global tastes to your table. Instead of cooking and deboning a chicken, this pie recipe uses mince but is just as delish as the original dish.

Preparation time 25 mins Cooking time 1 hour Serves 6

500g washed white potatoes, peeled

and cut into 1cm pieces

100g unsalted bu er

2 leeks, thinly sliced

3 cloves garlic, crushed

1kg chicken mince

1 / Tbsp Moroccan seasoning

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground coriander

1 Tbsp cornflour

1 / cups chicken stock

/ cup pi ed Sicilian olives, halved 1 / Tbsp finely chopped preserved

lemon rind

/ cup chopped coriander leaves Sea-salt flakes and freshly ground

black pepper, to season

10 sheets filo pastry

STEP 1 Preheat oven to 180°C fan-forced (200°C conventional). Cook potato in boiling water for 7 minutes. Drain. Set aside.

STEP 2 Meanwhile, heat 30g of the bu er in a large, deep frying pan over medium heat. Cook the leek and garlic for 3 minutes, or until so . Remove from the pan.

STEP 3 Add chicken mince to same pan and cook, breaking up any lumps, for 5 minutes. Sprinkle over combined seasoning, cumin and coriander. Cook, stirring, for a further 3-5 minutes, until chicken is just turning white.

STEP 4 Combine cornflour with / cup of the chicken stock until dissolved. Stir in remaining stock. Pour over stock mixture and add potato, and leek and garlic mixture, to pan. Add the halved olives and preserved lemon rind. Cook, stirring, for 4 minutes, or until thickened. Remove from the heat. Stir in coriander. Season. Spread mixture into a 30cm round (12-cup capacity) ovenproof dish.

STEP 5 Melt remaining bu er. Lay 1 piece of pastry on a clean surface and brush with bu er. Place another sheet on top and brush with bu er. Loosely crumple pastry lengthways and place loosely around outer edge of pie. Continue with remaining sheets in the same way until the top is covered. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until golden. Serve with coriander leaves.