This is a mildly spicy flavoursome pie. Based lightly on B’stilla it is slightly time consuming but very much worth it for a lazy Sunday.

Loads more pictures and step by step recipe by clicking on “more…” below.

Filling:

2 tablespoons olive oil
5 shallots, chopped
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1 tablespoon all purpose flour
2 cups low-salt chicken broth
700g/1 1/2 pounds skinless boneless chicken thighs or breasts
1/4 cup chopped golden raisins/sultanas
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley

Phyllo:

1/2 cup slivered almonds/cashews
3 tablespoons powdered/icing sugar
1/2 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
10 sheets (about 17×12 inches) fresh phyllo pastry or frozen, thawed
1/2 cup (about) unsalted butter, melted (for brushing)

For filling:

Heat oil in heavy large frypan over medium heat. Add onion and cook until tender, about 10 minutes. Mix in cinnamon, ginger, turmeric, and saffron; stir 1 minute. Sprinkle flour over; stir 1 minute. Add chicken stock; bring to simmer. Sprinkle chicken with salt; add to broth mixture. Gently simmer chicken uncovered until cooked through, reducing heat if necessary to prevent boiling, about 20 minutes. Stir in raisins. Set pan aside until chicken is cool.Stir in cilantro and parsley. Season filling with salt and pepper. Cool filling.

For phyllo:
Finely grind nuts, powdered sugar, 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt, and cinnamon in mini processor.

Stack 10 phyllo sheets on work surface cover with plastic wrap and damp kitchen towel.

Brush pie dish with melted butter. Place 1 phyllo round in pie dish, brush with butter and sprinkle with scant 1 tablespoon almonds. Top with another phyllo sheet, brush with butter and sprinkle with scant 1 tablespoon almonds. Repeat stacking with 3 more phyllo sheets, butter, and almonds. Just leave the edges overhanging. Brush with butter. Spoon filling evenly over. Place 1 phyllo sheet on top of filling. Brush with butter and sprinkle with scant 1 tablespoon almonds. Top with another phyllo sheet, brush with butter and sprinkle with scant 1 tablespoon almonds. Repeat with 2 phyllo sheets, butter, and almonds. Top with remaining phyllo sheet. Fold edges over towards the middle of the pie. Drizzle more butter over top. Cut 4 slits through top phyllo stack to allow steam to escape.

Preheat oven to 375°F/190°C. Place pie on rimmed baking sheet. Bake uncovered until phyllo is golden and filling is heated through, about 40 minutes. Cool 15 minutes. Cut into wedges.

• 420g of microwaved pumpkin, blended
• 375g can  Sweetened Condensed Milk
• 2 eggs
• 2 g ground cinnamon
• 1g ground ginger
• 2 g ground nutmeg
• 3 g salt
• Pie crust (I made my own)

1. Preheat oven to 220 degrees C (425 degrees F). Whisk everything together in medium bowl until smooth. Pour into crust. Bake 15 minutes.
2. Reduce oven temperature to 180 degrees C (350 degrees F) and continue baking 35 to 40 minutes or until knife inserted 1 inch from crust comes out clean. Cool. Garnish as desired. Store leftovers covered in refrigerator.

Firstly, what the heck wordpress. When I say publish I don’t actually mean delete my entire post so I have to re-write it. But thanks. Its the thought that counts right??

This is actually a Nestle recipe I think… I have had it loose in my recipe drawer for ages and an excuse to make something came up (bible study) and i had all* of the ingredients for a change.. Recipe + 1 pic after the jump…

Actually thanks to a few random circumstances (WordPress 2.5 killing bits of my site, and the automatic upgrade killing even more I will leave you with a few pics until I post the recipe later this week.

*(Except cream, who keeps that lying around anyway)

Recently I baked this Frangipane Pear Tart to take to a bible study – I definately should have bought the tart tin with shorter sides and a removable bottom – as you can see I had to trim the top of the tart crust. Also, the crust in this got too brown for my liking, next time I will not pre-bake it for so long.

More pics + Recipe after the jump

Pear and Almond Tart [original recipe from Smitten Kitchen]

Pears
4 cups water
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
3 medium-size firm but ripe Bosc pears, peeled (each about 7 ounces)

OR – Ignore above ingredients and use canned pear halves.

Almond Filling
2/3 cup blanched slivered almonds
1 tablespoon all purpose flour
7 tablespoons sugar
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon almond extract or 2 teaspoons brandy (optional)

1 sweet tart shell, baked

Powdered sugar (optional)

For pears: Bring 4 cups water, sugar, and lemon juice to boil in large saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Add pears. Reduce heat to medium and simmer until pears are very tender, turning occasionally, about 20 minutes. Cool pears in syrup. (Can be made 2 days ahead. Cover and refrigerate.)

For almond filling: Finely grind almonds and flour in processor. Mix in 7 tablespoons sugar, then butter and flavorings (if using). Blend until smooth. Mix in egg. Transfer filling to medium bowl. Cover and chill at least 3 hours. (Can be made 2 days ahead. Keep chilled.)

Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 180°C. Spread almond filling evenly in baked tart crust. Stem pears and cut each in half lengthwise; scoop out cores. Cut each half crosswise into thin slices. Gently press each pear half to fan slices but keep slices tightly overlapped. Slide spatula under pears and arrange atop filling like spokes of wheel with narrow ends in center.

Bake tart until golden and tester inserted into center of filling comes out clean, about 55 minutes. Cool tart in pan on rack. Push pan bottom up, releasing tart from pan. (Can be made 8 hours ahead. Let stand at room temperature.) Cut tart into wedges; sprinkle with powdered sugar, if desired, and serve.