Recipe: Perfect Rich pastitsio
Rich pastitsio. A baked Greek pasta with flavorful lamb (or beef) bolognese & nutmeg-infused bechamel. A friend introduced Pastitsio to me a couple of years ago and I was instantly smitten. Greek pastitsio (Pastichio) - a layer of pasta with cheese, layer of delicious meat mixture with tomato sauce and covered with third layer of rich béchamel.
Pastitsio - layers of pasta and minced meat in tomato sauce, covered in bechamel, baked to crispy perfection. Pastitsio is to Greeks what lasagne are to the Italians and what mac and cheese is to Americans - intensely aromatic, rich and gooey layers of tubular pasta in a hearty sauce consisting of tomatoes. Pastitsio is a creamy, cheesy pasta dish that is sometimes called Greek lasagna, but it's made with large tubular pasta. You can have Rich pastitsio using 27 ingredients and 13 steps. Here is how you cook it.
Ingredients of Rich pastitsio
- It's of Mince.
- Prepare 700 g of beef mince.
- It's 1 of large dry onion.
- You need 2 of large peeled tomatoes.
- It's 1 of medium green pepper.
- You need 1 cup of oil (approximately).
- You need 3/4 cups of white wine.
- Prepare 3/4 cups of tomato Passata (approximately).
- You need of salt.
- It's of cinnamon (powder).
- Prepare clove of (powder).
- Prepare of nutmeg (powder).
- It's of water.
- It's of Pasta.
- It's of macaroni No3 (usually long, thick, hollow pasta).
- It's of butter.
- It's of Bechamel sauce.
- You need of Bechamel sauce.
- Prepare 130-150 g of corn flour.
- Prepare 1 1/2 l of fresh milk (approximately).
- It's 2 of eggs.
- Prepare 2 of full tbsp butter.
- It's of salt.
- Prepare of cinnamon (powder).
- Prepare of nutmeg (powder).
- You need of Cheeses.
- Prepare 1 kg of grated cheeses (regato, graviera, kasseri) (approximately).
Pastitsio is a favorite traditional Greek dinner recipe. It's a Greek version of lasagna- characterized by a white and creamy bechamel sauce used in place of marinara and a hint of cinnamon. Pastitsio (Greek: παστίτσιο, pastítsio), sometimes spelled pastichio, is a baked pasta dish with ground meat and béchamel sauce found in Greek, Egyptian, Turkish, Maltese and Cypriot cuisines. Pastitsio takes its name from the Italian pasticcio.
Rich pastitsio step by step
- Using a pot, lightly sauté the grated onion and the mince at medium temperature..
- When these are ready, add the tomato (grated), the pepper, finely chopped, quite a bit of cinammon and clove and a little bit of nutmeg, stir well to combine the flavors and cook for about 5 minutes with the lid on so that the liquids are absorbed..
- Then deglaze with the wine, put the lid back on and let the mince cook for five more minutes..
- Add about 1,5 to 2 glasses of water and let the food cook for about half an hour..
- After half an hour of cooking add the Passata, stir well and add water (about 1 cup), add salt, stir again and let the mince cook for another half hour till all the juices are absorbed..
- Take the pot off the heat and let the mince cool for a while..
- Prepare the pasta. Boil it in salty water and drain to get rid of the excess water. Then, put it in a baking tray, spread it and let it cool..
- Place the milk and corn flour in a pot stirring constantly with a whisk over medium heat. After a while, as the milk starts to boil, the mixture will start to thicken. Withdraw from the fire and keep on whisking. It might be necessary, according to how thick the bechamel is, to add a bit of milk or corn flour accordingly (just remember to whisk vigorously so that the bechamel doesn't get lumpy). Add two full tbsp of butter and let it cool for a while..
- Take small pieces of butter with your hands and butter the pasta well. Add half of the cheeses and mix all the ingredients together. Using your hands spread the pasta in the tray..
- Pour the mince over the pasta so that it goes everywhere and add half of the remaining cheeses spreading the mix with a spoon so that it is even..
- Back to the bechamel now. Add the eggs and stir very well. Add a bit of salt, quite a bit of cinnamon, a bit of nutmeg and stir again. Then add the rest of the cheeses to the bechamel and stir them with a fork or a whisk so that they combine well..
- Finally, pour the bechamel on the tray and shake it so that it goes everywhere and there are no uncovered places..
- Bake in medium temperature (we have already preheated the oven) for about 1 hour till it goldens to the nice colour that we all know!.
A very rich recipe; you can safely reduce the meat sauce and Saltsa Aspri by one. An amazing traditional Greek recipe with rich buttery bechamel, Horio feta and graviera cheese. SEE ALSO Red mullets in red sauce with pasta. Greek lasagna from my friend's Greek grandma ~ layers of cinnamon-lace beef, Kasseri cheese and creamy béchamel sauce. As a general rule, pair the heartier sauces with the wider noodles: Wide ribbons like pappardelle pair well with rich, meaty sauces while the thinner flat noodles.
