$re = '/@if\((.*?)\)\s+({{\s+((?:[^{}]|(?2))*?)\s+}})/';
$str = '@if(topLevel)
{{
<form method="post">
@if(bottomLevel)
{{
<input>
}}
</form>
}}';
$subst = "First match:\n$1\n\nSecond match:\n$3";
$result = preg_replace($re, $subst, $str);
echo "The result of the substitution is ".$result;
Please keep in mind that these code samples are automatically generated and are not guaranteed to work. If you find any syntax errors, feel free to submit a bug report. For a full regex reference for PHP, please visit: http://php.net/manual/en/ref.pcre.php