Ingredients
Makes 10 Pastillas
375g Antoniou Fillo Pastry
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 red onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamon
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 teaspoon ground ginger
500g chicken thigh fillets, sliced into thin strips
1 tablespoon flour
250ml chicken stock
Salt and pepper to season
1 tablespoon honey
75g almond meal
100g dried apricots, chopped
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, finely chopped
150g butter, melted
Icing sugar for dusting
Method
Before you begin this Filo Pastry recipe, take your chilled Filo Pastry out of the fridge and allow it to come up to room temperature in its packaging.
Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan on medium heat, add the onion and cook for 5 minutes, until translucent. Add the garlic and cook through for a further minute. Add the cinnamon, cardamon, turmeric and ginger and mix through, then add the chicken strips and flour. Stir well ensuring the chicken is coated. Add the chicken stock. Add the almond meal, apricots, parsley and honey and stir well to combine. Bring to the boil and then reduce the heat to medium. Simmer gently, uncovered, for 20 minutes on a low-medium heat. The mixture should be quite thick. Allow to cool completely before using.
Note: You can make the mixture a day ahead and use the following day.
Preheat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
Lay one sheet of Fillo Pastry on your work bench and brush liberally with melted butter. Repeat this process with 2 more sheets until you have a stack of 3 sheets.
Cut the stack of Filo Pastry in half, parallel to the shorter edge of the pastry, to make two large rectangles. Flip one rectangle over, so the butter side of the pastry faces the bench. Brush the pastry with butter. In the centre of the square place a heaped tablespoon of the chicken mixture. Wrap the pastry up into a neat parcel around the filling, twisting slightly (resembling a small “money bag”).
Tuck the excess Fillo from the top of the parcel back under the pastilla and brush well with butter. Repeat with the remaining chicken mixture and Fillo.
Bake in the oven for 30 minutes or until golden brown. Allow to cool for 10 minutes before dusting with icing sugar.