Chicken and almond pastillas

Name: Chicken and almond pastillas
Prep time: 40 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 1 h 25 min
Yield: 4
Ingredients: 400 g tin green lentils; 3 skinless chicken breasts; 2 tbsp. olive oil, plus extra to brush; 1 onion, finely sliced; 2 1/2 cm (1in) piece fresh root ginger, peeled and grated; Finely grated zest of ½ orange; 3 tbsp. fresh parsley, finely chopped; 50 g (2oz) ground almonds; 25 g (1oz) flaked almonds; 1 tsp. ground cinnamon; 50 g (2oz) sultanas; 8 sheets filo pastry, each about 30.5cm x 38cm (12in x 15in) - we used JR Feuilles de Filo

We used lentils to boost these savoury but sweet Moroccan parcels

By The Good Housekeeping Cookery TeamPublished: 28 September 2013

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Cuisine, Food, Nem, Dish, Nem rán, Recipe, Spring roll, appetizer, Lumpia, Fast food,

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Yields:

Prep Time:

40 mins

Cook Time:

45 mins

Total Time:

1 hr 25 mins

Ingredients

400 g tin green lentils
3 skinless chicken breasts
2 Tbsp. olive oil, plus extra to brush
1 onion, finely sliced
2 1/2 cm (1in) piece fresh root ginger, peeled and grated
Finely grated zest of ½ orange
3 Tbsp. fresh parsley, finely chopped
50 g (2oz) ground almonds
25 g (1oz) flaked almonds
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
50 g (2oz) sultanas
8 sheets filo pastry, each about 30.5cm x 38cm (12in x 15in) - we used JR Feuilles de Filo

Directions

1. Step 1
  Drain and rinse the lentils, then leave to drip-dry until you need them. Next put the chicken in a pan and cover with cold water. Bring up to the boil, then simmer for 10min. Leave to cool in the water for about 20min until cool enough to handle.
2. Step 2
  Meanwhile in a large deep frying pan heat the oil and gently cook the onion for 10min until softened. Take off the heat and stir in the ginger, orange, parsley, almonds, cinnamon, sultanas, the drained lentils and plenty of seasoning.
3. Step 3
  Lift the chicken out of the water, pat dry with kitchen paper and finely chop. Add to the pan and check the seasoning.
4. Step 4
  Preheat the oven to 200°C (180°C fan) mark 6. Taking one piece of filo pastry at a time (keep the rest covered so that it doesn't dry up), brush the top with some of the oil, then fold in half lengthways. Put roughly 1/8 of the chicken filling on the left hand side of the strip about 2.5cm (1in) from the edge and shape to a rough square. Fold the left, top and bottom sides over the filling, then flip the parcel over on to the empty strip and keep flipping to make a squarish parcel. Transfer to a baking sheet and brush top with more oil. Repeat with remaining filo and chicken mixture.
5. Step 5
  Bake for 25-30min until the pastry is crisp and golden. Serve with a seasonal salad.

Per Serving:

Calories: 300
Fibre: 3 g
Total carbs: 30 g
Sugars: 6 g
Total fat: 10 g
Saturated fat: 1 g
Protein: 22 g

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The Good Housekeeping Cookery Team

An experienced and highly skilled team of food writers, stylists and digital content producers, the Good Housekeeping Cookery Team is a close-knit squad of food obsessives. Cookery Editor Emma Franklin is our resident chilli obsessive and barbecue expert, who spends an inordinate amount of time on holidays poking round the local supermarkets seeking out new and exciting foods. Senior Cookery Writer Alice Shields is a former pastry chef and baking fanatic who loves making bread and would have peanut butter with everything if she could. Her favourite carb is pasta, and our vibrant green spaghetti is her weeknight go-to. Lover of all things savoury, Senior Cookery Writer Grace Evans can be found eating crispy corn and nocellara olives at every opportunity, and will take the cheeseboard over dessert any time (though she cannot resist a slice of tres leches cake). With a wealth of professional kitchen know-how, culinary training and years of experience between them, they are all dedicated to ensuring every Good Housekeeping recipe is the best it can be, so you can trust they’ll work (and if they don’t – we’ll have the answer for why*) every time (*90% of the time the answer is: “buy an separate oven thermometer”!).

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