Here is a step-by-step Moroccan recipe for making delicious Seafood Bastilla. Crisp, paper-thin pastry encloses spicy seafood, black mushrooms and rice vermicelli.

Moroccan cuisine is well-known for bastilla. In this fresh seafood recipe, Moroccan warqa or phyllo dough encloses a tender filling of shrimp, calamari and swordfish. Black mushrooms, rice vermicelli, hot sauce and soy sauce add an Asian influence.

The following recipe makes a 12” Seafood Bastilla that will serve four as a meal, or six as a first course. Also try Morocco's Chicken Bastilla, which features savory chicken layered with a spicy stuffing and crunchy sweetened almonds.

Seafood

• 2 lbs. (about 1 kg) fresh shrimp (medium), cleaned; shell and tail removed
• 1 lb. (about ½ kg) fresh calamari (squid), cleaned; skin, head and cartilage removed
• 1 lb. (about ½ kg) fresh swordfish(whiting may be substituted)
• 3 tbsp butter, divided
• salt and pepper

Tomato Sauce

• 2 ripe tomatoes, cut in half and seeds removed
• 2 large cloves garlic, pressed or minced
• 1 handful fresh parsley leaves, finely chopped
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper

• Filling
• 1 handful dry black mushrooms
• 6 oz (about 175 g) rice vermicelli
• 1 tbsp hot sauce
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• tomato sauce
• reserved liquids from cooking seafood

For the Assembly of the Pie

• 1 lb. (about ½ kg) warqa or phyllo (fillo) dough
• ½ cup butter, melted
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 egg yolk, beaten
• 1 cup finely grated cheese (Edam, Gouda, mild cheddar, etc.)

1. Make the Tomato Sauce

Grate the tomatoes into a small skillet or pot. Discard skin. Add the garlic, salt, pepper and vegetable oil. Simmer uncovered for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add parsley and remove from the heat.

2. Cook the Shrimp

Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a large non-stick skillet. Add shrimp, ½ teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon pepper. Sauté over medium high heat until shrimp turns white but the center is still slightly clear. This will take only a minute or two.

Drain the shrimp, reserving the liquid, and set aside.

3. Cook the Swordfish

Melt 1 tablespoon butter in the skillet. Add the swordfish, ½ teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon pepper. Cook over medium heat, turning several times, until the fish flakes easily.

Remove the fish, reserving the liquid. Pick the fish off the bones, break into bite-size pieces and set aside.

4. Cook the Calamari

Cut the calamari tubes into ¼” to ½” rings; coarsely chop the tentacles.

Melt 1 tablespoon butter in the skillet. Add the calamari, ½ teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon pepper. Cover and simmer one hour, or until very tender.

Drain the calamari, reserving the liquid, and set aside.

5. Prepare the Mushrooms

Soak the dry mushrooms in water for 30 minutes. Drain, chop coarsely and set aside.

6. Cook the Rice Vermicelli

Soak the rice vermicelli in water for 15 to 20 minutes. Drain.

Place the vermicelli in a pot with the reserved liquids from the seafood. Stir in the soy sauce, hot sauce and the tomato sauce. Cook uncovered, stirring occasionally, until vermicelli is tender and liquids are absorbed, about 15 minutes. Separate the strands.

Chop the cooked vermicelli into pieces about 2” to 3” long.

7. Combine the Filling

Place the cooked seafood, fish, mushrooms, and vermicelli into a very large bowl and mix well.

Taste the filling – it should be slightly salty and spicy. If desired, adjust the seasoning with additional soy sauce and hot sauce.

8. Assemble the Bastilla

The pie will be assembled in this order:

• bottom layer of warqa or phyllo
• seafood filling
• grated cheese
• top layer of warqa or phyllo

Keep your warqa or phyllo covered with plastic while working.

It is easiest to assemble bastilla if you work inside a 14” or larger round pan, but you can work on a flat surface if necessary.

Brush melted butter, then vegetable oil, on the bottom of your pan or your work surface.

Overlap single layers of warqa (shiny side down) or double layers of phyllo, to cover the bottom of the pan. Drape the edges of the dough over the sides of the pan (see photo below). Butter the dough.

Add a 12” circle of warqa (shiny side down) or two 12” circles of phyllo. This will serve the as the base of your pie. Butter the dough.

Distribute the filling over the base, lightly pressing and molding to maintain the circular shape. Dribble 2 tablespoons of the melted butter over the filling.

Sprinkle the grated cheese over the top.

Fold the loose edges of the dough up around the filling to fully enclose the pie. Try to maintain a circular shape, and trim off any excess that can’t be folded neatly. Brush the tops and sides of the pie with butter.

Top the pie with two or three overlapping layers of pastry, shiny side up, to form a smooth top. Fold these top layers snugly down around the edge of the pie, tucking the excess under the pie and gently molding a rounded edge.

Brush the entire top and sides of the bastilla first with butter, then with the beaten egg yolk.

The bastilla is now ready for baking. The unbaked bastilla may be wrapped in plastic and refrigerated (up to one day) or frozen (up to two months).

9. Bake and Serve

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Place the bastilla on a buttered baking sheet – a pan with no sides allows for easy transfer to a serving plate – and bake until crisp and golden brown, about 30 to 45 minutes. A bastilla taken from the freezer may take longer.

If desired, garnish the bastilla by sprinkling grated cheese on it and returning the pie to the oven to allow the cheese to melt. Transfer the Bastilla to a large plate for serving.

Text Copyright © 2008 by Christine Benlafquih. Reproduction without permission prohibited.