Winter Vegetable Pastilla, Sweet & Savory Moroccan Tart
This winter vegetable pastilla is a delicious, vegetable-filled take on the sweet-and-savory Moroccan pastilla. It’s a flaky filo dough pie filled with layers of spiced scrambled eggs, roasted winter vegetables, caramelized onions, and toasted almonds. This filling is a perfect mix of sweet and savory. Really, it is so tasty you won’t miss the meat.
Don’t let the long ingredient list or prep time deter you! This is a fantastic dish for when you have some time. For entertaining, no problem prepping this winter vegetable pastilla ahead of time.
What is traditional pastilla?
If you are not familiar with traditional Moroccan pastilla, here’s a quick rundown. First, it’s not usually vegetarian. You use chicken or pigeon, braised with onions, herbs, and spices. A pastilla has layers of an egg-onion mixture, braised chicken, “caramelized” onions, and ground fried almonds. Wrapping these layers of filling is a crust of thinly layered dough, such as brick or filo dough. After cooking, you’d decorate the pastilla with powdered sugar and cinnamon.
Pastilla is commonly served for festive occasions like weddings or breaking a Ramadan fast. It also takes forever to prepare. Like, you start at noon, and it’s ready for dinner. This vegetable version is quicker, but still takes a while.
Winter vegetable pastilla – A new take on pastilla
My winter vegetable pastilla deviates quite a bit from the original recipe, but it is extremely delicious in its own right!
The main differences:
- Roasted vegetables instead of chicken
- Toasted blanched almonds instead of deep fried (Buy blanched almonds, not with the brown skin, and save yourself the tedium of removing the skins)
To save time, the different elements cook at about the same time. First, start roasting the vegetables. Then, start caramelizing the onions and toasting the almonds. After that, back to the roasted vegetables while giving the onions an occasional stir. Then, cook the eggs, and finally assemble and bake.
The sweetness of authentic pastilla can vary depending on the cook’s preferences. Here, the pastilla is lightly sweet. It’s just sweet enough to accentuate the caramelized onions, sweet potato, and dried apricots, but not overpowering.
I got my inspiration for the roasted vegetable mixture from a favorite vegetarian couscous recipe: “Ultimate winter couscous,” found in Yotam Ottolenghi’s cookbook Plenty. The Moroccan-style spices in the original recipe are perfectly balanced, and go well with the flavors of a pastilla, too.
Make ahead
The entire pastilla can be assembled ahead of time through step 12 and kept in the refrigerator until ready to bake. The individual layers can also be prepared ahead of time before assembling.
How to reheat winter vegetable pastilla
To reheat leftovers, use the oven, about 170 °C (convection) for 20 minutes. I put a little aluminum foil in front of the cut edges to prevent the filling from drying out. Avoid reheating this dish in the microwave because the filo dough becomes limp and chewy instead of crispy.
Bon appétit !
You might also enjoy…
If you enjoy Moroccan flavors, check out my Moroccan chicken bake with celeriac, this Tunisian-inspired chickpea salad with harissa dressing, or my Moroccan-style cilantro tabbouleh.
Winter vegetable pastilla
Ingredients
Roasted vegetables:
- 2 medium carrots about 160 g (5.6 oz), peeled and cut into 1 cm (½ inch) chunks
- 1 large parsnip about 180 g (6.3 oz), peeled and cut into 1 cm (½ inch) chunks
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 4 star anise
- 3 bay leaves
- 20 g cilantro (½ cup chopped) small stems ok
- 10 g parsley leaves chopped (½ cup packed)
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp ground ginger
- ¼ tsp turmeric
- ¼ tsp paprika
- ½ tsp sugar
- ⅛ tsp Cayenne pepper
- 250 g peeled, cubed sweet potato approximately 1 cm (½ inch) cubes
- 1 pinch saffron
- 1 cup chicken or vegetable broth
- 100 g (heaping ½ cup) dried apricots, roughly chopped
- 20 g (scant ¼ cup) preserved lemon, finely chopped
- ½ tbsp harissa
- 40 g cilantro leaves (1 cup chopped)
Caramelized onions:
- 700 g onions about 3 large onions
- 2 ½ tbsp olive oil
- 1 cinnamon stick
- ¼ tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp salt
- 25 g (2 tbsp) sugar
- chicken broth or water as needed
Almonds:
- 150 g whole, blanched almonds
- 1 tbsp butter melted
- 3 tbsp (15 g) powdered sugar
- ¾ tsp cinnamon
Eggs:
- 4 eggs
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- ¼ tsp ground cinnamon
Crust:
- 9 sheets filo dough
- 3 tbsp 45 g melted butter
- 1 ½ tbsp 20 g olive oil
Decoration:
- Powdered sugar
- Ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Roast the vegetables: Preheat the oven to 190 °C. Cut the carrots and parsnip into 1 cm (½ inch) cubes and place in a 13×9 inch (33×23 cm) baking dish. Then add the next ingredients from the cinnamon stick to the Cayenne pepper. Bake at 190 °C for 20 minutes, uncovered.
- Caramelize the onions while the veg roasts: While the vegetables start roasting, slice the onions from tip to root in approximately 3 mm (1/8 inch) slices. Heat 2 ½ tbsp olive oil in a wide pan over medium heat. Add 1 cinnamon stick, ¼ tsp ground cinnamon, ½ tsp salt, and 2 tbsp (25 g) sugar. Cook 40 minutes, stirring occasionally. If the pan starts getting dry, add a spoonful of water or broth to prevent burning. The onions should be soft and moderately caramelized after 40 minutes.
- Toast the almonds while the other veg cooks: Wrap the whole blanched almonds in aluminum foil, in a single layer, on a baking tray. Position the tray underneath the roasting vegetables in the oven, where the temperature is a little cooler. Bake for about 15-20 minutes or until golden. Check the almonds periodically to avoid burning. Coarsely grind the toasted almonds with 1 tbsp melted butter. Stir in 3 tbsp (15 g) powdered sugar plus ¾ tsp ground cinnamon. Set aside.
- Continue roasting the vegetables: Add the cubed sweet potato to the baking dish with the carrots and mix. Cook for 25 minutes more. Heat the chicken broth, and add the pinch of saffron. Let the flavor infuse while the sweet potato cooks. After the 25 minutes, the cubed vegetables should be somewhat soft, but not mushy.
- Add the dried apricots to the carrot mix along with 1 cup saffron-infused chicken broth. Cook 15 more minutes.
- Remove the roasted vegetables from the oven. In a large bowl, mix the roasted vegetables, including up to 2 tbsp of the excess broth, half of the caramelized onions, the finely chopped preserved lemon, ½ tbsp harissa, and 1 cup chopped cilantro leaves. Save the other half of the onions for step 7.
- Prepare the eggs once the onions are cooked: Beat the eggs with ¼ tsp salt. Reheat the pan used for the onions over medium heat. Add back the second half of the onions, plus 1 tbsp olive oil, ¼ tsp ground cinnamon, and the beaten eggs. Cook for about 5 minutes, mixing frequently and breaking up the eggs.
- You now have the three layers to assemble your pastilla: eggs, roasted vegetables, and almonds.
- Assemble the pastilla: When working with filo dough, keep a slightly damp tea towel over the sheets you are not using. Mix 3 tbsp (45 g) melted butter with 1 ½ tbsp (20 g) olive oil in a small bowl.
- Brush the butter-oil mixture on one side of the first sheet of filo dough. Place this sheet oiled-side down in your pie tin. Repeat to make a bottom crust with 4 sheets of oiled filo. If your filo sheets are rectangular, rotate each layer, and leave the points hanging out of the pie pan while you add the filling.
- Add the pastilla filling: egg-onion mixture on the bottom, then the roasted vegetables, and finally the ground almonds.
- Fold the excess filo dough over the top of the pie filling. Using the same method as in step 10, make a top crust with the remaining 5 sheets of filo dough. After all 5 sheets are on top, carefully tuck the excess filo dough under the bottom of the pie in the pan. Brush the top with the butter mixture.
- Bake: Bake the pastilla at 180 °C (350 °F), convection mode, for 25-30 minutes, until the crust turns a nice golden brown. The filling is already cooked, you just need to make the pastry crispy.
- Decorate: Once cooked and out of the oven, sprinkle with a couple teaspoons of sifted powdered sugar and a dash of cinnamon.