Friday, January 28, 2011

Sweet Potato and Garbanzo Bean B'Stilla


Time for French Fridays with Dorie! Our recipe of the week is Chicken B'Stilla. I switched it up a little bit to make a vegetarian version with roasted sweet potato cubes and garbanzo beans instead of the chicken.


I had never heard of B'Stilla (aka bastilla) until this recipe came up. It is kind of like a Moroccan pot pie with a phyllo dough outer crust and and egg based sauce for the filling. At first I was going to swap out the chicken for red lentils and garbanzos but decided against the lentils since I thought they'd just absorb too much sauce and get mushy.

fragrant spice mixture

Instead I went with diced sweet potato that had been roasted with all of the spices in the recipe that are supposed to be cooked with the chicken. I tossed the potato cubes in olive oil and coated them in the spice mixture before roasting for 20 minutes to get them just tender.

Yum! This is a photo of the spiced and roasted potatoes and they were so delicious, I debated skipping the whole bastilla and just serving the potatoes :)

While the potatoes were in the oven I made the sauce which I think I ended up with too much of. I strained the sauce into a measuring cup and had almost two cups, but when adding the sauce the the sweet potatoes and garbanzos decided to use only half of the sauce, so one cup.


Another tiny change I made was to use pistachios instead of the almonds. I believe the almonds are the traditional nut in this recipe, but I had just run out of almonds and had the right amount of pistachios handy so decided to use those. Pistachios are a common ingredient in Moroccan dishes, so I felt this was an okay substitute.


Filled with the veggies and sauce, ready for the top layer of phyllo...

Buttered and sprinkled with cinnamon sugar...love the savory sweet combo!

The B'Stilla is then baked until golden brown and crispy crunchy.

Here is where I got to have some fun -- while researching bastillas and photos of bastillas I came across a photo of a bastilla from a Moroccan restaurant called Casablanca. The bastilla top was dusted with powdered sugar and had two camels stenciled on the top along with the name of the restaurant. I immediately thought of my camel cookie cutter that I've never used but have had for years. I pulled it out, set it down on top of the baked bastilla and dusted on some powdered sugar. Too fun.

The kids loved the camel. The kids did not love the bastilla :( They had a few bites but were not liking it. Picky husband was working so we didn't have to worry about him. I thought it was delicious and the only thing I didn't really care for was the eggy sauce -- but I know that is a main component of the recipe, and even though I didn't love the sauce, it didn't stop me from enjoying a big slice of bastilla. I loved all of the flavors and would love to make something like this again. While I realize this is no where near a true Moroccan b'stilla, it was still fun to try a vegetarian version and learn about a dish I had never even heard of before.

17 comments:

janet @ the taste space said...

I love your vegetarian bastilla! Bastilla was hands-down my favourite dish while travelling in Morocco and I made it with leftover Christmas turkey when I came back... I have been itching to try a vege option and I love your spin on it! Sweet potatoes and chickpeas... mmm.... :)

Audrey said...

Oh, your filling sounds good! I loved this recipe, and it would be fun to try different fillings.

Jessica of My Baking Heart said...

Love the camel on top! Sorry it wasn't a hit with the kiddos, but glad you enjoyed it! :)

Ms. Hobby said...

I love your veggie version of the dish. We don't eat a lot of meat at our house, and when I made the chicken version, it was all the meat I needed for the week. I'll have to try your veggie version!

Aubepine said...

Looks like a great alternative recipe... or even just the sweet potatoes!

Candy (Dulce) said...

I think your idea of sweet potatoes sounds wonderful, particularly with these spices. How nice!

Cher Rockwell said...

Dinosaurs are awesome. I love how you took on the challenge to make it vegetarian. Way to own it!

franklyentertaining said...

What a great way to personalize this recipe! It's too bad your kids didn't enjoy it, it was a huge hit at our house, but that may have been the cinnamon sugar topping!

Monica said...

I love the camel!!

Anonymous said...

Very cool vegetarian version. I bet the roasted sweet potatoes absorbed much of the flavour.

Flourchild said...

Yum great idea to change it up..love the cutout camel too! I didn't like this one...;((

Kris' Kitchen said...

I wish that I had at least added veges to this dish...your sweet potatoes are so mouth watering...you are creative and your post is beautiful. Love that camel too!

suzy@gingerandberries.com said...

Yum! This looks delicious, beautiful AND fun! -- and thanks for stopping by.

Welcome to our crazy blessed life said...

What a fun choice to make this vegetarian. :) I liked it too but my kids didn't either.

Maya, Mieko and Hana's Mom said...

Loved your interpretation of the dish. It looks awesome. I enjoyed your photography as well. Thanks for sharing.

Anonymous said...

I love seeing the variations that people make with FFwD recipes - also love the camel stencil! Kelly at Vegan Thyme did a vegan version, too.

Leslie said...

I skipped this one but you've inspired me to make it vegetarian as you did. I love the way yours turned out!

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