Pastitsio (παστίτσιο) is one of those dishes where the world is far better off for someone having invented it. And as with all good things that have ever happened in the history of the world, we have the Greeks to thank.
It is similar to baked pasta dishes like lasagna in that can either be deliciously light and airy, or oily, heavy and leaden and sits on your chest like a stone. I prefer the first version. Also similar to lasagna, it has three parts: the pasta, the meat sauce, and the bechamel, but instead of pasta sheets, it uses bucatini which looks like thick spaghetti with a hole in the middle. This makes it look amazing when you cut into it and see all these hollow pasta tubes running through it.
It is a time-consuming dish, but well-worth the effort. It is best eaten at room temperature when everything has set up and holds its shape.
First, you are going to make the meat sauce. Sweat off a finely chopped onion in a little oil, add about a pound of meat (I used beef and veal), and cook till it loses colour. Add half a cup of red wine and a couple of cloves of garlic. Simmer for five minutes, then add one large can of tomatoes, drained, as you don't need the extra liquid, about two or three tablespoons of tomato paste, half a teaspoon each of cinnamon, ground coriander and sugar, a couple of bay leaves, salt and pepper, then cover and simmer for half an hour. Remove the lid, add freshly chopped parsley and basil, oregano too if you have it, then continue till almost all the moisture is gone. Set aside too cool. Just before you use it, beat in two egg whites plus one egg.
Start boiling your pasta. At the same time, make your bechamel. You're always going to adjust the ratios but for this - a medium thick sauce - you can start with two tablespoons of butter, melted in a medium pan, to which you add two tablespoons of flour. Mix well until it is fully incorporated then add one cup of warm milk. For this recipe, I needed about three cups of bechamel to which I added nutmeg, two egg yolks (you should have two left over, remember?), and cinnamon.
Once the pasta is done, drain and into a large bowl with two beaten eggs, two tablespoons of melted butter and about 3/4 of a cup of grated cheese. I used a good parmesan, but a good hard Greek cheese is nice too.
Now it's time for assembly. Layer the pasta into a greased baking pan. Spread the meat sauce on top, then cover with a layer of pasta. Spread your bechamel over that, and top with a little cheese and breadcrumbs. Bake at 350 C for 45 minutes, or until it's nice and golden brown and bubbly. You can omit the breadcrumbs if you like.
Wait at least 15 minutes to cool before slicing it into squares and serving with a salad (Greek of course!).
It is similar to baked pasta dishes like lasagna in that can either be deliciously light and airy, or oily, heavy and leaden and sits on your chest like a stone. I prefer the first version. Also similar to lasagna, it has three parts: the pasta, the meat sauce, and the bechamel, but instead of pasta sheets, it uses bucatini which looks like thick spaghetti with a hole in the middle. This makes it look amazing when you cut into it and see all these hollow pasta tubes running through it.
It is a time-consuming dish, but well-worth the effort. It is best eaten at room temperature when everything has set up and holds its shape.
First, you are going to make the meat sauce. Sweat off a finely chopped onion in a little oil, add about a pound of meat (I used beef and veal), and cook till it loses colour. Add half a cup of red wine and a couple of cloves of garlic. Simmer for five minutes, then add one large can of tomatoes, drained, as you don't need the extra liquid, about two or three tablespoons of tomato paste, half a teaspoon each of cinnamon, ground coriander and sugar, a couple of bay leaves, salt and pepper, then cover and simmer for half an hour. Remove the lid, add freshly chopped parsley and basil, oregano too if you have it, then continue till almost all the moisture is gone. Set aside too cool. Just before you use it, beat in two egg whites plus one egg.
Start boiling your pasta. At the same time, make your bechamel. You're always going to adjust the ratios but for this - a medium thick sauce - you can start with two tablespoons of butter, melted in a medium pan, to which you add two tablespoons of flour. Mix well until it is fully incorporated then add one cup of warm milk. For this recipe, I needed about three cups of bechamel to which I added nutmeg, two egg yolks (you should have two left over, remember?), and cinnamon.
Once the pasta is done, drain and into a large bowl with two beaten eggs, two tablespoons of melted butter and about 3/4 of a cup of grated cheese. I used a good parmesan, but a good hard Greek cheese is nice too.
Now it's time for assembly. Layer the pasta into a greased baking pan. Spread the meat sauce on top, then cover with a layer of pasta. Spread your bechamel over that, and top with a little cheese and breadcrumbs. Bake at 350 C for 45 minutes, or until it's nice and golden brown and bubbly. You can omit the breadcrumbs if you like.
Wait at least 15 minutes to cool before slicing it into squares and serving with a salad (Greek of course!).
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