Moroccan · Pastry
Wedding Pigeon Pastilla (Marrakech Style)
The most prestigious version of Morocco's famous sweet-savoury pie, reserved for weddings and grand feasts — layers of crisp warqa pastry enclosing shredded pigeon slow-cooked in saffron and onion, a lemony egg curd and a layer of sugared, cinnamon-scented almonds, dusted with icing sugar on top. Each slice is a study in the Moroccan love of sweet against savoury.
- Prep
- 75 min
- Cook
- 60 min
- Total
- 135 min
- Serves
- 8
- Level
- Advanced
Ingredients
- 4 pigeons (or substitute 1 small chicken), jointed
- 3 onions, grated
- Generous pinch of saffron, bloomed
- 1 tsp ginger and 2 cinnamon sticks
- 6 eggs, beaten
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 200 g almonds, fried and coarsely ground with sugar and cinnamon
- 12 sheets warqa or filo pastry
- 150 g butter, melted
- Icing sugar and cinnamon, to dust
Method
- 1
Braise the birds
Cook the pigeon with grated onion, saffron, ginger, cinnamon sticks, butter and a little water until very tender, then shred the meat and reserve.
- 2
Make the egg curd
Reduce the cooking onions and juices, add the lemon and beaten eggs and stir over low heat to a soft, moist scramble; season and cool.
- 3
Prepare the almonds
Fry the almonds golden, drain, and grind coarsely with sugar and a little cinnamon.
- 4
Layer the pie
Butter a round tin and overlap warqa sheets up the sides; layer in the egg curd, then the shredded pigeon, then the sugared almonds, folding the pastry over and sealing with more buttered sheets.
- 5
Bake and dust
Bake at 190°C for about 30 minutes until deep golden and crisp, invert, and dust the top with icing sugar and cinnamon lines before serving warm.
Chef's tips
- Keep the egg curd moist, not dry — it should still be soft when it goes into the pie, as it firms in the oven.
- Work quickly with warqa or filo and keep spare sheets covered so they don't dry and crack.
- Grind the almonds coarse, not to powder, so the sugared layer has texture against the crisp pastry.
Frequently asked questions
Can I use chicken instead of pigeon?
Yes; chicken pastilla is the common everyday version. Pigeon is the traditional, more prestigious wedding bird with a richer, gamier flavour.
Can I assemble it ahead?
Assemble it a few hours ahead and refrigerate, then bake fresh so the pastry is crisp. Baked pastilla loses its crunch if it sits too long.