Wolfert notes that Moroccan warqa pastry is often compared to several other thin, high-gluten pastries from other cooking traditions (fillo, strudel, brik, etc.), but warqa is distinct from all of them and, she notes, thinner.

Based on the description in the book, it sounds like the traditional way of making warqa leaves is to tap a large ball of dough multiple times onto a hot pan to deposit a thin layer pastry onto it. Wolfert has given an alternative method that involves painting batter onto a hot pan with a pastry brush. Aside from the fact that my batter was a little lumpy and my pastry brush may never be the same again, I think this worked reasonably well.

I think that using an actual food processor -- rather than trying to use a blender as a food processor -- might help with the lumpiness of the batter next time. (Not that I have a food processor, but I do think that would help.) As for the pastry brush... Despite the fact that she specifically calls for a natural bristle brush for painting the batter onto the pan (and a silicone brush for oiling them afterward), I'm thinking that I might want to try out a silicone brush for both tasks next time. I'm not sure if it'd work or not, but I'd like to at least give it a go so that I know for sure.

Warqa

From The Food of Morocco

Ingredients

• 225g hard (high grade/bread/strong) white flour
• 1/4 c. all-purpose or atta (extra-fine semolina) flour¹
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1 3/4 c. water, divided
• 1 Tbsp. cider vinegar
• 1 Tbsp. olive oil
• 3 Tbsp. canola (or other neutral) oil

Directions

1. Combine the flours and salt in a food processor and pulse a couple times to get everything mixed.
2. With the machine running, add 1 c. of the water along with the vinegar.
3. Process until the dough forms a smooth ball, then add the oil through the tube and process for another 30 seconds.
4. With the machine still running, pour in the remaining 3/4 c. water and process for another minute or so.
5. Pour into a container, cover, and chill overnight.
6. The next day, set a large pot of water on the stove and bring to a fast boil.
7. Set a non-stick skillet that fits snugly over the pot. Secure it with kitchen twine if necessary.
8. Use a silicone brush to lightly oil the skillet, then wipe it out with a paper towel.
9. Use a natural bristle brush to stir up the batter (or experiment with using silicone for this), then quickly brush the batter evenly over the hot skillet. If necessary, do another pass to fill in any empty spaces.²
10. Cook for ~2 minutes. Once the warqa turns completely white and the edges start to curl, it's ready.
11. Grab the curling edges of the warqa with your fingertips and lift it out of the pan.
12. Place it cooked-side-up on a paper towel, then use a silicone brush to lightly brush it with some of the oil.
13. Place another paper towel on top.
14. Stir up the batter again and repeat the process until all batter has been used. (I got ~24 warqa from this recipe.)
15. If not using right away, place the stack of warqa and paper towels into a plastic bag and store in the fridge. They will keep in the fridge for 3 or 4 days. For loger term storage, they may be frozen.

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¹ If the warqa will be used for bastilla, use the all-purpose flour. If it will be used for briwat, use the atta flour. ^Back
2 I found that one pass/brush-full was nowhere near enough to coat the whole bottom of the pan. I don't know if my brush was too small or my pan too big or my technique was not good or what, but it generally took me at least six passes to get full coverage. It still seemed to work out okay though. My warqa were tissue-thin, but quite strong and flexible. ^Back

I've been wanting to try my hand at making bastila ever since I was given this book. It looks fascinating and delicious. But I always found the recipes a bit intimidating. First you have to make your warqa, which already looked pretty challenging to me, and then you have to assemble that into a pie! A pie that needs to be baked and flipped over multiple times! It all sounded a bit too daunting to me. Especially since I kept eyeing up the fancy "bastila of Fes with chicken or quail". Somehow it felt like I should start with that one -- it being the famous classic version and all. But it's also quite intricate and complicated. And eventually I realized that maybe it would be better to start with one of the simpler bastilas.

This bastila uses ground beef (rather than chicken, quail, squab, or lamb like many of the others do) and the filling can be prepared in advance, so you don't have to do everything the day of. And, aside from feeling like I need to work on my warqa-making technique, I was very happy with the results. So now I have finally made a bastila!

Beef Bastila with Peppers, Raisins, and Olives

Slightly adapted from The Food of Morocco by Paula Wolfert

Ingredients

• 225g ground beef
• 2/3 c. chopped onion
• 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 1/2 tsp. la kama spice mixture
• 1/2 tsp. ras el hanout
• 3 Tbsp. chopped flat-leaf parsley
• 1/4 c. chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 55g vermicelli pasta or rice vermicelli
• 1 large (or 2 small) bell peppers, grilled or broiled, peeled and diced
• 1 c. chopped tomato
• 1/2 tsp. harissa or biber salçasi (Turkish red pepper paste)
• 3 Tbsp. golden raisins
• 10-12 Picholine or green olives, pitted and sliced
• 1 Tbsp. lemon juice
• black pepper, to taste
• 24 warqa leaves or 225g fillo leaves
• 1 Tbsp. oil
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 tsp. water¹
• 2-3 Tbsp. melted ghee² (2 Tbsp. for warqa; 3 Tbsp. for fillo)
• lemon slices and/or parsley sprigs, for garnish

Directions

1. Combine the beef, onion, garlic, la kama spice mix, ras el hanout, parsley, cilantro, and salt and cook, covered, on low heat for ~20 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, boil the vermicelli in salted water until al dente (probably 1-4 minutes depending on your pasta).
3. Drain the pasta/noodles, shock with cold water, and then cut into 5cm pieces and set aside.
4. Add the bell pepper, tomato, harissa, raisins, and olives to the pan with the meat and increase heat to medium.
5. Cook the meat mixture, uncovered, over medium heat for ~5 minutes.
6. Remove from heat and add the vermicelli to the pan along with the lemon juice. Toss to combine.
7. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
8. Chill until ready to use. (Can be made a day in advance.)
9. Preheat oven to 200°C (400°F) and brush the bottom and sides of a 25cm (10") tart tin or pizza pan with the oil.
10. Beat the egg yolk with the water and set aside.
11. If using warqa:
    • Arrange all but 5 or 6 of the leaves, shiny-side-down, overlapping, and overhanging the sides of the pan.
    • Spread the filling over the pastry leaves, lightly pressing down, then fold the edges of the pastry leaves up over the filling to enclose it.
    • Brush the folded leaves with some of the egg yolk mixture.³
    • Place the remaining leaves shiny-side-up and overlapping on top of the bastila. Tuck in the edges to create a fully-enclosed pie.
    • Brush the top of the pie with the melted ghee followed by a light coating of the egg yolk mixture.
    If using fillo:
    • Arrange half the fillo leaves, one on top of the other, so that they cover the bottom and overhang the edges of the pan. As you arrange the pastry, brush every second leaf/sheet with melted ghee.
    • Spread the filling over the pastry leaves, lightly pressing down, then fold the edges of the pastry up over the filling to enclose it (or nearly so).
    • Brush the folded leaves with some of the egg yolk mixture.
    • Cover with the remaining fillo leaves and tuck the edges under the pie.
    • Brush the top with a light coating of egg yolk.
12. Bake at 200°C (400°F) for 20 minutes.
13. Shake the pan a bit to loosen tthe pie.
14. If necessary, tilt the pan to pour off any excess fat.
15. Invert the pie onto a greased baking sheet.
16. Brush the pie with the remaining egg yolk.
17. Return to the oven and take at 200°C (400°F) for another 10 minutes.
18. Remove the pie from the oven and, if necessary, tilt to pour off any excess fat.
19. Put a serving platter or cutting board over the pie and invert the pie onto the platter/board.
20. Decorate the top with lemon slices and/or sprigs of parsley.
21. Cut into wedges and serve hot (with extra harissa)!

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¹ I forgot to add the water to my egg yolk, which made it a bit too thick to easily brush onto the pastry. ^Back
2 I got a little discombobulated and just ended up using melted butter for this instead of melted ghee. It still seemed to work out alright, but I think the ghee would've been even better. ^Back
3 I totally missed this step when building my bastila. It was buried in a long paragraph of instructions and I think my eyes just skipped a line and it didn't get done. This is why I tend to break the instructions down a bit more when I do recipe write-ups: less chance of missing a step. ^Back

Beef Tagine with Fresh Apricots

I was originally planning to make the apple and prune version of this tagine. But then I got to the grocery store and they had local nectarines on sale. And I momentarily forgot that the apricot version wanted apricots and not nectarines. So I got a bunch of nectarines and didn't get the prunes and figured I'd just make that version. Then I got home and realized my mistake. But I already had the nectarines, so I figured I'd just go for it anyway. Nectarines and apricots are basically the same fruit, right?

Beef Tagine with Fresh ApricotsNectarines

Slightly adapted from The Food of Morocco by Paula Wolfert

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• scant 1/8 tsp. saffron threads, crushed
• 3/4 c. hot water¹, divided
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/2 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 3/4 tsp. ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon, divided
• 1 shallot, grated or finely minced
• 1kg beef short ribs (braising ribs), cut into individual ribs
• 500g stewing beef, cut into 4-5cm chunks
• 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 onion, halved and sliced
• 3 Tbsp. honey
• 4-5 fresh nectarines², quartered and pitted
• 1 Tbsp. sesame seeds, toasted

Directions

1. Set your tagine on a heat diffuser and melt the butter and oil over medium-low heat. (I tried out an induction cooker for this and set it to 600W.)
2. Pour 2 Tbsp. of the hot water over the crushed saffron.
3. Add the salt, pepper, ginger, and 1/4 tsp. of the cinnamon to the saffron water. Let stand for 1-2 minutes.
4. Pour the spice water into the tagine along with the shallot and mix well.
5. Once the spices have warmed through, begin adding the beef. Try to make sure each piece gets coated in the buttery spices.
6. Add the remaining water along with the cilantro, cover, and simmer for 2.5 hours. Check on it every half hour or so to turn the meat, remove any bones that have come loose, and make sure it's neither boiling over nor boiling dry.
7. After 2.5 hours the meat should be very tender and falling off the bone. At the point, add the onion, cover, and simmer for another 30 minutes.
8. Stir in the honey and remaining 1/4 tsp. of cinnamon.
9. Cook, uncovered, for another 30 minutes.
10. If possible, transfer the meat to a serving dish leaving the sauce in the tagine. Add the apricots/nectarines to the sauce and continue simmering until just heated through. Then pour the sauce and nectarines over the beef. Otherwise, just place the nectarines on top of the beef in the tagine, cover, and simmer for another 10-20 minutes until heated through.
11. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and serve.

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Variations

Lamb Tagine with Prunes and Apples

This version can also be made with beef if desired. Or the above version can be made with lamb. Mix and match as you see fit.

Ingredients

• 3 Tbsp. unsalted butter, divided
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• scant 1/8 tsp. saffron threads, crushed
• 2 3/4 c. hot water, divided
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/2 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 3/4 tsp. ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon, divided
• 1 shallot, grated or finely minced
• 1.5kg bone-in lamb shoulder, cut into 4-5cm chunks
• 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro
• 450g pitted prunes
• 1 onion, halved and sliced
• 4 Tbsp. honey, divided
• 4 tart apples (eg. Granny Smith)
• 1 Tbsp. sesame seeds, toasted

Directions

1. Start as above with 2 Tbsp. each of butter and oil in a tagine over medium-low heat.
2. Proceed through the next four steps as directed above.
3. Once the meat is in the tagine, pour 2 c. of the remaining hot water over the prunes and set them aside to soak.
4. Pour the remaining water over the meat and add the cilantro.
5. Cover and simmer for 2 hours, checking on it every 30 minutes or so to turn and remove loose bones as above.
6. After 2 hours, add the onions, then cover and simmer for another 30 minutes.
7. Drain the prunes and add them to the tagine along with 3 Tbsp. of the honey and 1/4 tsp. of cinnamon.
8. Simmer, uncovered, for 30 minutes.
9. Meanwhile, quarter and core the apples (leaving the skin on).
10. Melt the remaining Tbsp. of butter with the honey and a pinch of cinnamon.
11. Add the apples, cut-side-down, and sauté until soft and glazed (~3 minutes).
12. Transfer the meat to a serving dish, pour the sauce over, then decorate with apples. Or, alternatively, place the apples on top of the meat and serve directly out of the tagine.
13. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and serve.

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¹ The original recipe called for adding hot water to "almost cover the meat". For me, this was the 2 Tbsp. used in the spice water mixture + 1 c. But I found the resulting tagine very soupy. Maybe that is as it should be. But I think I would prefer a less soupy result next time so I've reduced the water quantity somewhat here. ^Back
2The original recipe called for 900g of fresh apricots, "pitted and cored". I weighed out 900g of nectarines. This worked out to be 7 nectarines for me. I managed to fit four of them into the tagine before it was in imminent danger of overflowing. So I've written up this recipe to reflec that. If you want a fruitier final product (and have a larger tagine than I do), you may decide that you want to use more nectarines/apricots than this. ^Back

I used to be vehemently opposed to eggplant as a food. I hated it. Then I realized that babaganouj was generally okay. So that was the exception, but eggplant was still terrible in general. Then I discovered that eggplant parmesan was good. And so was fish-fragrant eggplant (as long as it was appropriately fried and garlic-y). And baingan bharta. So, I started thinking that maybe eggplant wasn't so bad after all.

I went through a similar process with chickpeas. And now I love them. Unfortunately eggplant hasn't followed quite the same path. While I no longer avoid it outright, I still find it very hit and miss. I still find it really gross a lot of the time. But then sometimes it's completely delicious!

I honestly wasn't holding out much hope for this particular recipe. Frying the eggplant gives it a leg up, sure. But it didn't seem to have much else going for it. Just fried eggplant with a bit of charmoula. And while charmoula is very good, I wasn't sure it'd be enough to make this dish tasty. But, I've been surprised by recipes before. So I figured it was worth a try. And I'm very glad that I did try it! It was wonderful! Easily my favourite dish of the meal (which also included chickpeas, carrot salad, and tagine bread.

Eggplant with Charmoula

Slightly adapted from The Food of Morocco by Paula Wolfert

Ingredients

Charmoula

• 1-2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tsp. sweet paprika
• 1/8 tsp. ground cayenne
• 3/4 tsp. cumin seeds, ground
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 1 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 Tbsp. chopped flat-leaf parsley
• 3 Tbsp. lemon or orange juice
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil

Eggplant

• 2 eggplants (~680g)
• coarse sea salt
• 1/4 c. olive oil
• 1 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 Tbsp. chopped flat-leaf parsley

Directions

1. Combine all the charmoula ingredients and set aside.
2. Slice the eggplant ~2cm thick and salt both sides.
3. Place in a colander -- make sure it's not aluminum! -- and place a paper towel and something heavy on top. Set aside for 30-60 minutes.
4. Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F) and grease a baking sheet.
5. Pat the eggplant dry and brush with olive oil on both sides.
6. Place on prepared baking sheet in a single layer.
7. Bake at 180°C (350°F) for ~30 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool.
8. Heat the remaining oil over medium-high heat.
9. Add the eggplant slices (a couple at a time) to the hot oil and fry until both sides are brown (~1 minute/side).
10. Allow excess oil to drain from fried eggplant, then transfer to shallow serving dish.
11. Whisk the charmoula well, then drizzle it over the eggplant.
12. Sprinkle with parsley and cilantro.
13. Let stand for at least 1 hour before serving.

This is a simple chickpea dish. Wolfert explains that this is a poverty dish; something you'd make if you can't afford to buy meat. The name is a humorous reference to that fact.

I rushed this dish a bit. I didn't soak the chickpeas for as long as I should have. And then I failed to add enough water to the pot. And I also failed to keep a close enough eye on it while it was cooking. So the pot boiled dry and I ended up with chickpeas that were too firm and a bit scortched on the bottom. It was still okay, but not one of my favourites. Even without the various self-inflicted problems I introduced, I just found the flavours a little too subtle. And that was after doubling all the spices called for. I'm glad I tried it. But I don't think I'll be revisiting this one.

The Bird that Flew Away

Slightly adapted from The Food of Morocco by Paula Wolfert

Ingredients

• 1 1/8 c. dried chickpeas
• 1/2 a large red onion, minced
• 1 Tbsp. chopped flat-leaf parsley
• 1 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro
• 1/4 tsp. sweet paprika
• 1/8 tsp. hot paprika
• 1/4 tsp. ground turmeric
• 1/4 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1 Tbsp. ghee

Directions

1. Soak the chickpeas overnight in plenty of water (they will expand as they soak).
2. The next day, drain and, if desired, peel the chickpeas.
3. Place the chickpeas in a pot with enough water to cover them. Be a little generous here. I didn't put enough water and my pot boiled dry.
4. Bring to a boil and add the onion, parsley, cilantro, paprika, turmeric, salt, pepper, and ghee.
5. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 45-60 minutes. Check on them periodically and add more water as needed. You want them to just absorb all of the water by the time they're done. The finished chickpeas should be very, very tender but not completely broken down.
6. Adjust seasoning to taste and serve.

I need to work on my steaming if I'm going to be doing more Moroccan cooking. I had both too much and too little water in the steamer for this. Too much, because once the water started boiling it boiled up through the bottom of the steamer and my carrots ended up partially boiled. Too little, because the pot boiled dry before the carrots had finished cooking. I think I need to elevate the steamer a bit more next time and then put more water in the pot. Hopefully that will get the balance right.

Crushed Spiced Carrot Salad

Slightly adapted from The Food of Morocco by Paula Wolfert

Ingredients

• 350g carrots, peeled and trimmed
• 3/4 tsp. cumin seeds, ground
• 1 Tbsp. garlic paste¹
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. sweet paprika
• 3 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1-2 Tbsp. orange juice²
• black pepper, to taste
• 1 Tbsp. chopped flat-leaf parsley

Directions

1. Steam the carrots over boiling water until they are soft and easily crushed with a fork (~30 minutes). Transfer to bowl and set aside.
2. Combine the cumin, garlic paste, salt, cinnamon, paprika and oil and stir to mix.
3. Heat a small skillet over medium heat and add the spice mixture. Cook until warmed through (~30 seconds).
4. Pour the warm spice mixture over the carrots and mash with a fork to break down the carrots and mix in the spices.
5. Add the juice and season to taste with salt and pepper.
6. Garnish with parsley and serve.

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¹ The original recipe called for two cloves of garlic. These were then halved and ground/mashed along with the whole cumin seeds and salt to form a spiced garlicy paste. I haven't gotten around to seasoning my molcajete yet, so I just used garlic paste as an easy shortcut for this recipe. ^Back
2 This was supposed to be "juice of 1/2 a lemon", but I was all out of lemons, so I used a bit of freshly squeezed orange juice instead. ^Back

I made a couple of mistakes with this bread, but I was still really happy with the result. I think I'll be making this one again.

I think the biggest problem was that I made the loaves a little too wide. I think my rounds were probably in the 28-20cm range rather than the 13-15cm the recipe called for. This made it difficult to fit them on the peel and meant that they sort of merged as they rose. So I ended up with tear-apart loaves rather than four separate ones. I also forgot to brush them with milk like I was supposed to. So they didn't have the shiny crusts that the recipe described. They were still plenty tasty with a wonderful, soft, springy crumb that had a slight bite to it from the semonlina. Like I said, definitely worth revisiting!

Marrakech Tagine Bread

Slightly adapted from The Food of Morocco by Paula Wolfert

Ingredients

• 400g fine semolina flour (pasta flour)
• 150g all-purpose flour
• 1/2 Tbsp. instant yeast
• 1/2 Tbsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/2 Tbsp. sugar
• 1 3/4 c. warm water
• 1 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 Tbsp. milk or unsalted butter

Directions

1. Combine the flours, yeast, salt, and sugar and mix well.
2. Add the water and mix until a soft dough forms.
3. Pour in the olive oil and work it in.
4. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 5-10 minutes. You may need to add a little more flour to the surface as you work, but do so very sparingly.
5. Shape into a ball, return to bowl, cover, and let rest for 15-20 minutes.
6. Knock the dough back and divide it into four equal portions.
7. Round each portion, cover, and rest for ~5 minutes.
8. Flatten each ball slightly to form a 13-15cm round (5-6").
9. Put a generous sprinkling of semolina flour on a pizza peel or similar surface and place the dough rounds on it to proof.
10. Cover the dough with plastic wrap¹ and a tea towel and proof at room temperature for ~45 minutes.
11. Place a pizza stone on the bottom rack of the oven and preheat to 200°C (400°F).
12. Press the centre of each round with the palm of your hand to deflate it.
13. Prick the centre of each loaf with a fork.
14. Brush each loaf with milk or melted butter.
15. Slide the loaves onto the preheated pizza stone and bake at 200°C (400°F) for 20 minutes.
16. Transfer to a tea towel or wire rack to cool.

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Variations

Vegan Version

Ingredients

• 400g fine semolina flour (pasta flour)
• 150g all-purpose flour
• 1/2 Tbsp. instant yeast
• 1/2 Tbsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/2 Tbsp. raw sugar
• 1 3/4 c. warm water
• 1 Tbsp. olive oil

No shiny crust this way. But I didn't do the milk/butter glaze on my breads and I was still very happy with the results, so I don't think it's a big problem to skip it.

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¹ I actually used a large Ziploc bag. I didn't put the breads inside the bag. I just place it on top of them to stop them from sticking to the tea towel. ^Back