Pastitsio

Today is a trip to the Mediterranean side. Like I mentioned before, my stepfather is Greek which means Big Fat Christmas Dinners in Greektown and as many Greek festivals as possible in the summer. I’ve never actually cooked Greek food before, so I thought I’d remedy that by trying out my favorite dish–Pastitsio.

Pastitsio is pasta layered with spiced meat and béchamel sauce. It came out really well (nice and moist) and got thumbs up all around. It’s not a difficult dish to make, but it’s a little time consuming to make all at once. Some parts you can do-ahead, or save it for a special occasion meal. For something this tasty, it’s worth it! The meat filling is half lamb/half beef, but feel free to use all of either.

Pastitsio

Ingredients:

• 1 lb #2 pastitsio noodles (or other tube shaped pasta such as ziti)
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

Ingredients for the meat sauce:

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 small or 1 large onion, chopped
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 lb ground lamb
• 1 lb ground sirloin
• 1 can tomato puree (28 oz)
• 3/4 – 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (to taste)
• 1/4 dried oregano
• Salt, pepper and fresh nutmeg

Ingredients for the béchamel:

• 1/4 lb (1 stick) butter
• 1/2 cup flour
• 4 cups milk
• 3 egg yokes
• Salt, pepper and fresh nutmeg

Directions:

In a large pot boil water for noodles. Cook and drain according to package instructions.

In a large pan, saute onion and garlic in oil until softened, then add meat and cook until browned. Stir in tomato and spices, taste and adjust spices if necessary. Simmer until sauce reduces by about half.

In a separate pan melt butter. Whisk in flour and cook for a few minutes, but do not brown. Whisk in milk, stirring and cooking until smooth and sauce begins to thicken and bubble. Add seasonings to taste, including plenty of freshly grated nutmeg.

Grease a 13×9 or similarly sized pan with tall sides. Layer half the pasta, all of the meat, the other half of the pasta, then the béchamel sauce. Top with cheese and bake uncovered for about 45 minutes and top is golden. Allow to cool for 10 minutes before cutting.

Yield: serves an army (approximately 12)