Moroccan Seafood Bastilla Recipe

In recent decades, Seafood Bastilla has become an increasingly popular special occasion dish to serve at Moroccan weddings, family celebrations, banquets, holidays, and company dinners.

To make this impressive savory Moroccan pie, shrimp, calamari, and fish are tossed with a zesty Chinese vermicelli filling and wrapped within Moroccan pastry sheets called warqa. Once baked, the combination of crispy, paper-thin pastry and flavorful seafood stuffing is a true delight.

Seafood bastilla can be shaped into multi-serving pies of any size, including very large bastilla for up to 12 persons; or they can be made into single-serving size, perfect for offering as a special treat during Ramadan or as a starter before another main dish.

Although making seafood bastilla is a bit time-consuming, each step is easy enough for a novice cook. I find the task of cleaning and prepping the seafood to be much more tedious and challenging.

You can eliminate much of that work by having a fishmonger do the cleaning for you. Even then, be sure to pick through the shrimp and calamari to remove any stray shells or unwanted bits.

Once assembled, the bastilla can be frozen or refrigerated for later baking, making it a perfect do-ahead dish.