Chicken B'stilla

This is my husband's favorite recipe. I've even entered it into a cooking competition. It didn't win, but I was competing against professional chefs. It's a winner in our home & everywhere else I've made it!

B'STILLA
Filling -
2T veg oil (I use olive)
1 onion finely chopped
3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
1/4 C minced fresh flat leaf parsley
2 T minced fresh cilantro (I use a bit more)
1/4 t ground turmeric
8 threads saffron, crushed
1 C water
1 t ground ginger
1 1/4 t ground cinnamon
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1 t salt
1/2 t pepper
2/3 C powdered sugar

Almond mixture -
1/2 C whole blanched almonds (I used split almonds)
1/2 C powdered sugar
1 t ground cinnamon

12 sheets phyllo dough, thawed
1 C (2 sticks) butter, melted (I completely skip this and used spray butter stuff)
ground cinnamon & powdered sugar for garnish

Filling: In a large saucepan over med heat, heat the oil. Saute' onion until golden (6-8 min). Add chicken, parsley, cilantro, turmeric, saffron, water, ginger, & cinnamon. Cover & cook until the chicken is tender (20-25 min). Transfer chicken to a bowl or plate and set aside to cool. Let the sauce continue to simmer in the pan and add the beaten eggs, salt, pepper, & sugar. Stir constantly until the eggs are scrambled. Shred the chicken & add it to the egg mixture. Set aside.

Almond mixture: In a blender or food processor, coarsely grind the almonds and mix w/ sugar & cinnamon. Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Remove 12 sheets of phyllo from the pkg and re wrap the remaining phyllo in its original wrap. Refrigerate for future use.
Stack the 12 sheets on a work surface and cover w/ a damp towel. Spray a little butter on a pizza pan or baking sheet. Layer 3 sheets of phyllo, lightly spraying each layer w/ butter. Sprinkle the 3rd sheet evenly w/ 1/2 of the almond mixture. Layer & butter 3 more sheets. Spread the chicken mixture evenly over the top, leaving a 1 1/2" border of phyllo. Fold over the edges to partially cover the chicken mixture. Layer & butter 3 more sheets over the chicken, sprinkling the remaining almond mixture evenly over the top. Layer & butter the last 3 sheets of phyllo over the almond mixture. Tuck the edges of the last 6 sheets under the b'stilla as you would a bed sheet (@ this point, I take another baking sheet and place it on top, then flip it over & seal the last 6 sheets of phyllo from bottom to top) - does that make sense?

Bake the b'stilla until golden brown (20-25 min). Place the powdered sugar in a fine-meshed sieve. Tap the sides of the sieve to cover the surface of the b'stilla lightly & evenly w/ sugar. Using thumb & forefinger, sprinkle ground cinnamon over the top (most people make patterns, I just lightly dust it). Serve immediately, before pastry becomes soggy.
**It took me a long time to finally make this b/c I thought it would be a really daunting task. It's not - it's a lot of steps, but it's really easy and didn't take as long as I thought.

Note: These can be prepared in advance and frozen uncooked in aluminum foil. It will keep up to 2 months in the freezer. No need to thaw before baking, but bake for 10 min extra if frozen.
**This makes about a 10" pie and easily serves 4 average plates.
Recipe from "Cooking at the Kasbah" by Kitty Morse (w/ some personal notes of my own added as well)