Cookbook:Pasta Casserole (Pastitsio)
Appearance
Pasta Casserole (Pastitsio) | |
---|---|
Category | Pasta recipes |
Difficulty |
Cookbook | Recipes | Ingredients | Equipment | Techniques | Cookbook Disambiguation Pages | Recipes
This recipe for pastitsio has been improved on over the generations. The reason why this is cooked on the stove top & only browned in the oven is that in Greek villages there was a shared village oven. So dishes like these were popular as they could be browned after the bread had been baked.
Ingredients
[edit | edit source]Meat sauce
[edit | edit source]- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 medium onions, chopped
- 750 g minced meat
- 400–450 g canned chopped tomatoes
- ⅓ cup tomato paste
- ½ cup water
- ¼ cup dry white wine
- 1 tablespoon beef stock powder
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon powder
- 1 egg, beaten lightly
Greek-style bechamel sauce
[edit | edit source]- 100 g butter
- ½ cup plain flour
- 3½ cups milk
- 1 cup grated fresh Parmesan cheese
- 2 egg yolks
Pasta mix
[edit | edit source]- 250 g macaroni pasta (or Greek pastitsio noodles)
- 2 eggs, beaten lightly
- ¾ cup grated fresh Parmesan or Feta cheese
Assembly
[edit | edit source]- 2 tablespoons stale breadcrumbs
Equipment
[edit | edit source]- 2.5-litre (10-cup) baking dish (metal, glass or ceramic are fine)
- 2 large saucepans for meat sauce and pasta
- 1 medium-to-large saucepan for Bechamel sauce
Procedure
[edit | edit source]Meat sauce
[edit | edit source]- Heat olive oil in pan. Add the chopped onions and sauté until translucent.
- Add the minced meat, and cook until well browned.
- Add the chopped canned tomatoes, liquid and all.
- Add the tomato paste, water, wine, beef stock powder, and cinnamon powder. Simmer uncovered until it becomes thick in consistency.
- Once thick transfer into a mixing bowl to cool.
- Once cool, stir in egg.
Greek-style Bechamel sauce
[edit | edit source]- Melt the butter in pan.
- Add the flour, and stir well over heat until bubbling.
- Remove pan from heat, and gradually add the milk. The mixture will become thick and will then thin again.
- Return pan to heat, and cook until sauce bubbles then thickens.
- Stir in Parmesan cheese until melted and smooth.
- Transfer to mixing bowl and cool slightly.
- Mix in the egg yolks.
Pasta mix
[edit | edit source]- Boil the pasta as per directions on packet until tender.
- Drain pasta, and transfer to mixing bowl.
- Mix the hot pasta with the Parmesan cheese and eggs.
Assembly
[edit | edit source]- Grease baking dish.
- Press pasta mix into base of pan.
- Top pasta mix with the meat sauce.
- Pour the Bechamel sauce over the meat sauce, then smooth the top.
- Sprinkle the breadcrumbs over the top.
- In a preheated oven, bake at 180°C (350°F) for 1 hour until golden brown.
- Let rest for at least 10 minutes before serving.
Notes, tips, and variations
[edit | edit source]- To avoid a large clean up at the end, just reuse the same saucepan.
- Leftovers freeze well, so it is a great freezer cooking dish.
- It is a good idea to start your meat sauce first as this needs to cool before you can begin construction.