Seeking a traditional Greek dish or a modern favorite? Check out this Pastitsio recipe that will be both, yet none of it!
Course Main Course, Meal
Cuisine Mediterranean, Sugar free recipe
Prep Time 30 minutesminutes
Cook Time 40 minutesminutes
Equipment
7½" x 12" / 19cm x 30cm Casserole dish
Ingredients
Meat Sauce
2tablespoonsCooking oil
1medium Oniondiced
1teaspoonSalt
3clovesGarlic
2lbGround meat
⅞cupRed wine
29ozTomato puree
1pieceBay leaf
1teaspoonCinnamonor stick
1teaspoonClove
1teaspoonBlack pepper
Béchamel sauce
7tablespoonsButter
⅞cupFlour
4cupsMilk
1teaspoonSalt
1cupParmesan
2mediumEgg yolk
Pasta
1lbPasta
¾cupFeta cheese
2medium Egg white
Topping
1cupMozzarella
Instructions
Meat Sauce
Sauté (stir-fry) diced onion and salt in hot oil until it gets a glassy / translucent look, about 5 minutes.
Mix in garlic and sauté until garlic gets fragrant, about 2 minutes.
Mix in the ground meat and stir-fry until browned.
If any wine is used, add it now and cook away most of the liquid, about 10 minutes.
Add tomato puree, bay leaf, cinnamon, clover and black pepper.
Place the lid on halfway and cook on low to medium heat until the liquid reduced and the sauce thickened.
Béchamel sauce
Melt butter in a skillet then mix in the flour and salt.
Vigorously whisk the slowly poured milk in. It will be lumpy at first but keep whisking. (Heating the milk beforehand helps keep it from lumping up if our whisking technique is inadequate.)
Whisk egg yolk in a bowl.
On medium heat, whisk the egg yolks into the Béchamel for a minute or so. It should thicken the sauce further.
Mix in the grated cheese. Season with salt, black pepper and nutmeg if desired.
Pasta
Cook pasta a couple of minutes, less than we've been instructed on the packing.
Run it under cold tap water for half a minutes then drain.
Assembly
Mix pasta with crumbled up feta cheese and egg whites then lay it to the bottom of the baking dish. If we don't have pastitsio pasta but really into the look, spend some time arranging the pieces, otherwise pouring the pasta into the dish will do just as well.
Continue layering with the meat sauce. (Remove whole spices and herbs like cinnamon stick, bay leaf, black pepper or cloves.)
Spread the Béchamel sauce on top.
Sprinkle optional mozzarella on top.
Put it into the middle rack of a 350°F / 180°C preheated oven until golden brown spots start to appear on top, about 40 minutes.