Moorish Chicken And Nut Pie

Total Time: 1 hr 15 mins Preparation Time: 30 mins Cook Time: 45 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 6
• 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

Recipe

• 1 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.
• 2 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.
• 3 stir in the chicken and cook for 1 minute.
• 4 add the paprika, cumin, ginger, cinnamon and cayenne and stir for a few seconds.
• 5 add the 1/2 cup chicken stock, the tomatoes and raisins and cover the skillet and cook for 12-15 minutes.
• 6 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.
• 7 season the filling with salt to taste and let it cool completely.
• 8 the filling can be prepared up to a day ahead and refrigerated, covered.
• 9 place the oven rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 375. lightly brush a 17x11 inch baking sheet with olive oil.
• 10 lightly flour the work surface. using a floured rolling pin, roll out 1 sheet of puff pastry to a roughly 18x12 inch rectangle.
• 11 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).
• 12 roll out the remaining sheet of puff pastry to a rectangle that is slightly smaller than the first.
• 13 spread the filling evenly over the pastry on the baking sheet, leaving about 1 inch bare along each of the 4 edges.
• 14 sprinkle the pine nuts and almonds evenly on top.
• 15 cover the filling with the second pastry rectangle. fold the edges of the bottom crust up over the top and crimp edges.
• 16 place the egg yolk and milk in a small bowl and whisk to mix.
• 17 brush the top of the pie with this egg wash.
• 18 using a sharp knife, make slits all over the top crust to allow steam to escape.
• 19 bake the pie on the center rack till golden brown and baked through, about 30 minutes.
• 20 let the pie cool till slightly warm or room temperature.
• 21 dust very lightly with confectioners' sugar, cut into squares.