Pastitsio
Pastitsio is probably best described as the Greek version of lasagna, and like lasagna it is one of the ultimate comfort foods. This dish, along with many other modern Greek dishes where created by Nicholas Tselementes the Sifnos born, French trained Greek chef that revolutionised Greek cuisine with his iconic cookbook Greek Cookery, first published in 1910.
The filling tubular pasta, the tomato beef mince and the silky bechamel sauce on top make this a real crowd pleaser. What I love about this is the aromatics used both in the meat sauce (cinnamon and cloves) along with nutmeg in the bechamel. Smells and tastes divine.
I can’t tell you how many of these I have made over the years and how many I had seen my mum make. This was something she would make for yiortes (namedays) when asked to bring food, or family gatherings. And most special for me, this is one recipe I learned from my mum and she in turn learnt this from her mum.
Recipe
Pastitsio
Serves 8-10
Ingredients
Pasta
500g tubular pasta (Misko no 2) or penne
1tsp salt
1 cup grated kefalotyri or parmesan
2 eggs beaten
1tbs breadcrumbs
Meat Sauce
1kg minced beef
1 onion chopped
1 x can tinned crushed tomatos
1tbs tomato paste
2tbs olive oil
1ts sugar
150ml water or wine
1 cinnamon stick or 1ts ground cinnamon
1/2ts ground cloves
2 bay leaves
salt & pepper
Bechamel Sauce
900ml milk
100g plain flour
100g butter
1 cup grated kefalotyri or parmesan
freshly ground nutmeg
salt & white pepper
Directions
Pasta
Boil water and add pasta when water has boiled
Boil pasta as per label instructions, drain and put back in the pot
Add beaten eggs and cheese and mix through pasta
Set pasta aside
Meat Sauce
In a pan add olive oil, onion and a little bit of salt
Saute onion until soft
Add minced meat and using the spoon, separate mince so it’s in very small pieces
Brown mince then add tomato paste, crushed tomatoes, spices, bayleaves, water or wine, sugar, salt and pepper. Stir everything together and let it simmer, until the sauce has thickened and isn’t runny. Set aside
Bechamel Sauce
In a pot or microwave heat milk until it is quite warm but not boiling
In pan melt butter and add flour
Cook for a couple of minutes to cook the flour (as so the sauce doesn’t taste floury)
Slowly start adding the warm milk and continually whisking it as so not to make it lumpy but rather silky
When your sauce is nice and ready (big bubbles should be forming) and all the milk is absorbed, take off the heat and add salt, pepper, nutmeg and cheese. Stir it through until the cheese has melted. Set aside to assemble
Assemble
Pre-heat oven to 200°
Coat the bottom of the tray with olive oil and sprinkle breadcrumbs at the base
Add half the pasta and smooth out try to make sure most of the base is covered with the pasta
Add the meat sauce and evenly spread it out
Top with the remaining pasta, again spreading it out evenly
Finish off with the bechamel sauce spread to cover the whole tray
Bake in the oven for 50min to 1hr until the top of the pastitsio is nice and golden
Allow about 45 minutes to cool and then cut.
Enjoy with a nice salad and some crusty bread.
Hint 1: For extra creaminess you can do a bechamel sauce and add to the leek mixture but omit the milk. You can also add dill and/or nutmeg for extra flavour
Hint 2: Breakcrumbs on the base make it easier to cut it
Hint 3: You can add an egg to the meat sauce to bind it
