Pastitsio

[bookwoman]

Pastitsio

Prep Time: 45 Minutes
Cook Time: 1 Hour 30 Minutes
Ready In: 2 Hours 20 Minutes
Yields: 8 servings

"An amazing baked pasta dish combining a meat sauce and a cream sauce with a cheesy top."

INGREDIENTS:
1 pound dry ziti pasta
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
cheese
1 dash ground nutmeg
salt and pepper to taste
3 eggs, lightly beaten

2 tablespoons butter
1 large onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef
1/4 cup tomato paste
1/2 cup dry red wine
1/2 cup vegetable broth
2 tablespoons chopped fresh
parsley
salt and pepper to taste

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
3 cups milk
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 egg, lightly beaten
salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add bucatini and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain and return to pan.
3. Melt butter until golden brown and pour over bucatini, add 1/4 cup of the Parmesan cheese, nutmeg, salt, pepper and toss well; allow to cool. Add eggs and toss again; set aside.
4. To make meat sauce: Gently fry onion and garlic in butter in a skillet until onion is soft. Increase heat and add ground beef; stir well. Cook until meat begins to brown. Add tomato paste, wine, broth, parsley, salt and pepper. Cover and simmer over low heat for 20 minutes.
5. To make cream sauce: Melt butter in saucepan, stir in flour and cook gently for 2 minutes. Pour in milk all at once and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Boil gently for 1 minute. Add nutmeg, salt, pepper and cool slightly before stirring in beaten egg. Transfer 1/2 cup of this sauce to the meat sauce.
6. To assemble pastitsio: Grease a 9x13 inch baking dish. Spoon half of the prepared bucatini evenly in the bottom and top with meat sauce. Top that with remaining bucatini. Pour on cream sauce and spread to completely cover bucatini. Sprinkle remaining cheese on top.
7. Bake in a preheated oven for 50 minutes or until golden brown. Let stand 10 minutes before cutting into squares to serve.

NOTE: I used Ziti when I made this because bucatini is hard to find where I
live.

[DessertGuy]

This recipe looks good, but I don't see an amount for the "remaining cheese" . . . is it parmesan or some other type of cheese?

[Kitchen Witch]

here's another version - we had this at a friends' house: (Greek style)

Athens Market Cafe's Pastitsio

8 to 10 servings
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 large Spanish onion, chopped
1-1/2 pounds lean ground beef
1/4 cup white wine
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
1 tablespoon minced fresh mint leaves
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/3 cup water
1 tablespoon tomato paste

PASTA
1 tablespoon salt
1 pound penne pasta
2 tablespoons butter
2 egg whites
1 cup grated kefalograviera cheese (see note)

BECHAMEL SAUCE
1/4 cup butter
4 tablespoons flour
3 cups scalded milk
2 egg yolks, beaten
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
Salt and pepper, to taste

TOPPING
3 tablespoons fine bread crumbs
To prepare the meat: Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a large skillet. Add the onion and saute until light brown. Add the meat and cook, stirring and breaking it up with a wooden spoon, until meat is browned and all liquid has evaporated.

Add the wine, parsley, mint, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper and allspice and mix well. Turn off the fire, cover and let stand for 5 minutes.

Combine water and tomato paste and stir into beef mixture. Bring to a boil and let simmer 15 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.

To prepare pasta: Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add 1 tablespoon salt. Add pasta and cook, stirring occasionally, until pasta is tender.

Remove pasta from heat, strain and rinse under cold water. In the pot the pasta was cooked in, melt 2 tablespoons butter. Toss in the pasta and stir. Whip egg whites with an electric mixer until stiff. Pour them over pasta and sprinkle with grated kefalograviera cheese. Mix well.

To prepare bechamel sauce: Melt 1/4 cup butter in a large saucepan. Stir in flour and cook over low heat for 4 minutes, stirring constantly. Do not brown. Pour in warm milk slowly while stirring. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until sauce comes to a boil and thickens. Turn off heat and stir in beaten egg yolks with a whisk. Add nutmeg and salt and pepper to taste.

To assemble: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-by-13-by-2-inch baking dish. Place half the pasta in the pan, distributing evenly. Top with all of the meat, then the rest of the pasta. Pour the bechamel sauce evenly over the casserole. Sprinkle with bread crumbs. Bake for 45 minutes, or until the top is golden brown.

Note: Kefalogravieria cheese, a Greek sheep's milk cheese, Kasseri cheese can be substituted. Some pastitsio recipes suggest parmesan cheese as a substitute, but the result would be less authentic.

[pamelasandra46]

In the beginning of the ingredients, you specify ziti, however, in the instructions, the referrence is buccatini. Which one do you suggest? Also, what other cheese? Thank you. Looks really yummy! Can't wait to try it!

[bookwoman]

Buccatini is hard to find where I live so I used Ziti, it is good with both. I see the problem with the cheese... when I ramped up this recipe from the one I had I forgot to double the grated Parmesan to a half cup, mea culpa!

I am going to try using some cheddar or blue the next time I make this.

I have made the required changes above in the original post.

bw

[Kitchen Witch]

When I make it - I use Buccatini (which I have to drive to the next state to find!) or Perciatelli; a few times I have used linguine/fettucini.

[bookwoman]

KW I admire your drive to the other states to procure the proper pasta!

I also agree that other pasta's can be used, I find that the ones with wells ( ziti, buccanti, shells , and cork screw ) make this recipe it's best.

They seem to hold the sauces better then the plain pasta's.

bw

Originally Posted by Kitchen Witch

When I make it - I use Buccatini (which I have to drive to the next state to find!) or Perciatelli; a few times I have used linguine/fettucini.