Greek Pastitsio ~ And Foodie Friday

I prepare a lot of pasta at my house.  It's one of the most important staples in my cupboard because of its versatility and ease of preparation and everybody loves it.  Pastitsio is a classic Greek pasta dish and comfort food at its best.   Layers of pasta, cheese, a well seasoned tomato and meat sauce and a rich, creamy bechamel sauce blend in this wonderful baked pasta dish.    The meat and tomato sauce layer is delicately flavored with cinnamon and red wine, and the hint of nutmeg in the bechamel sauce is perfect.  The noodles have a creamy, rich consistency that is unexpected in a pasta dish because the long pasta tubes are hollow and soak up the custard mixture as the pasta cools in preparation of assembling the casserole.  This make ahead casserole is one of my favorite recipes.  Don't you just love the tube shaped noodles and how well they hold their shape during baking?  It always gets rave reviews for the way it looks as well as the way it tastes.

Pastitsio

Meat Sauce

Olive oil to coat the bottom of a large pot

2 large onions, finely chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 pounds lean ground meat. I used half ground beef and half ground lamb

1 large can diced tomatoes with juice

1/3 cup kalamata olives, chopped

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 bay leaf

1/2 cup red wine

1 cinnamon stick, broken in half

Pasta

1 lb pasta - see note below

1/2 cup melted butter

2 cups whole milk or 1/2 and 1/2

2 eggs, beaten

1/2 cup kefalotiri or romano cheese, grated

Bechamel Sauce

6 tablespoons butter

1/3 cup flour

4 cups milk

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

3 eggs

1/2 pound kefalotiri or romano cheese, grated and divided

For the meat sauce - cover bottom of large pot with olive oil and saute onion until lightly browned; add garlic; add meat and cook until brown, crumbling with a fork; add remaining meat sauce ingredients to pot, mixing well.  Cover and simmer for 1 hour, stirring occasionally, until thick.  Let mixture cool, remove and discard cinnamon stick and bay leaf.

Prepare pasta by boiling until al dente in plenty of boiling, salted water.  Drain and place pasta in a large bowl.  Add butter, milk, eggs and 1/2 cup cheese.  Gently stir to coat and set aside.

To prepare bechamel sauce, melt butter over medium heat in a medium saucepan.  Stir in flour until smooth, cook, whisking for 2 minutes.  Gradually add milk,, stirring, until thickend.  Remove from heat and add salt, pepper and nutmeg.

In a medium bowl beat 3 eggs. Slowly add hot cream sauce to eggs.  Stir thoroughly so eggs don't curdle.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Butter or spray a large baking pan, 10-12" x 18" or use 2 smaller pans.

Place half of the pasta mixture in the bottom of the pan. If you use bucatini or Misko pasta place the pasta tubes side by side and stack them like logs.  Penne pasta also works well but you won't get the same visual effect.  Cover evenly with all of the meat sauce.  Sprinkle 1/3 of the cheese over meat sauce.  Add remaining pasta mixture, sprinkle another 1/3 of the cheese over the top.  Pour bechamel sauce evenly over the entire casserole and top with remaining cheese.

Bake until bechamel sauce sets and is golden brown, approximately 1 hour.  Cool at least 20 minutes before cutting. 

PASTA NOTE:  The large tube shaped pasta I used in this recipe is Misko Macaroni Pastitsio #2.  I can't find it in any of the grocery stores or specialty shops in my area so I order it from Parthenon Foods, a great source of specialty imported foods from around the world.  I have difficulty finding  kefalotiri cheese also and sometimes order it as well.  But romano works and is delicious in this dish.  Bucatini pasta (several brands are available in some grocery stores) is also a good choice if you don't go for the Misko.  Both pastas are long, hollow tubes that stand up well to a sauce.  The creamy texture of the pastitsio comes from all the custardy filling that fills the tubes of pasta and from the layer of bechamel on top.  When the pasta is cooked al dente it has the feel of surgical tubing (strange as that may sound).  It's longer than my casserole dish so I just pinch off the ends to fit and use the smaller pieces as fill-in for the pasta layers.

I hope you will try this delicious Greek pasta.  The flavors are wonderful and your friends and family will know you've made something very special for them.  A Greek salad and crusty bread are all you need to add for a meal suitable for any occasion.  A glass of a nice red makes it perfect.

Please visit Designs by Gollum for this week's Foodie Friday celebration. There's always a party going on, so please do join in.  It's a very special celebration this week because this is the first anniversary of this wonderful event.  Thank you so very much, Michael, and congratulations for being the hostess with the mostess.