Pastitsio (greek pasta bake)
Pastitsio (greek pasta bake)

Hello everybody, it’s John, welcome to my recipe page. Today, I’m gonna show you how to make a special dish, pastitsio (greek pasta bake). One of my favorites food recipes. For mine, I’m gonna make it a little bit tasty. This is gonna smell and look delicious.

The Pastitsio (or Pastichio) is a famous Greek pasta bake with a spiced meat sauce and a silky béchamel. It's ideal as a delicious Sunday dinner and it also freezes very well. Greek Pastitsio Bake with penne pasta, seasoned ground beef and a rich béchamel sauce baked in the oven until crispy. We love baked pastas here including Baked Mac and Cheese, Baked Million Dollar Spaghetti and Ultimate Meat Lasagna because they have crispy toppings and can feed a huge crowd!

Pastitsio (greek pasta bake) is one of the most popular of current trending foods in the world. It is enjoyed by millions every day. It’s simple, it’s fast, it tastes yummy. Pastitsio (greek pasta bake) is something which I have loved my entire life. They are nice and they look wonderful.

To begin with this particular recipe, we have to first prepare a few components. You can cook pastitsio (greek pasta bake) using 16 ingredients and 4 steps. Here is how you can achieve it.

The ingredients needed to make Pastitsio (greek pasta bake):
  1. Make ready 500 grams (gluten free) pasta e.g. fusilli
  2. Get 1 sea salt
  3. Take 1 extra virgin olive oil
  4. Get 500 ml (semi-skimmed) milk
  5. Make ready 3 tsp margarine
  6. Get 6 tbsp corn flour
  7. Prepare 2 tsp grated nutmeg
  8. Make ready 500 grams minced veal or extra lean beef
  9. Take 250 ml tomato passata
  10. Take 1 large onion, finely squared
  11. Take 1 clove garlic, finely grated
  12. Make ready 1 tsp grated cinammon
  13. Get 2 tsp allspice
  14. Get 2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
  15. Make ready 1/2 cup red dry wine or 1/4 cup cognac
  16. Take 1 cup grated goat's cheese (e.g. feta)

Pastitsio is the kind of food if you had to describe it as an act would be a "good old bear hug". And if you need a reference point, think of pastitsio as a baked pasta casserole or Greek lasagna. Add the meat sauce to the pasta and toss well until the noodles are coated. Transfer the mixture to the baking dish.

Instructions to make Pastitsio (greek pasta bake):
  1. Boil the pasta in salted water and a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil , until al dente. Then drain. You shouldn't need to rinse with cold water, because you added oil during boiling.
  2. Boil the milk in a pan and then reduce the heat. Add the margarine and cornflour ehile continuously stiring to avoid burning at the bottom of the pan. I used a hand mixer at a slow speed. When the sause is slightly thick , you add the nutmeg and set aside.
  3. In another pan, you saute the minced meat. When brown and all juices are reduced, you add the finely chopped onion and grated garlic until transparent and flavour the minced meat. Then you pour either the wine or cognac. If kids are sharing this dish, then you can skip the alcohol. Then in go the passata and spices. You reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes or until you get a thick sauce with some juice left.
  4. In a baking tray, you place half of the pasta with some grated cheese and a scoop of the white sauce whle mixing everything evenly. Then you pour on top of the pasta mix, all the minced meat sauce with a scoop of the white sauce. Finally, you place the remaining pasta with some grated cheese ontop of the previous layers. At the end, you pour the remaining white sauce and grated cheese on top of the final pasta layer. You bake for 20- 30 minutes in a pre- heated oven (at 180oC) or until the top layer becomes golden (I know mine looks more brown :-) ).

Add the meat sauce to the pasta and toss well until the noodles are coated. Transfer the mixture to the baking dish. Greek Pastitsio ready to bake Greek Pastitsio recipe - Prepare the pasta. The authentic Greek Pastitsio recipe is made with bucatini pasta, a thick pasta like spaghetti with a hole running through the center. This is how you will eat the dish in almost every Greek household or restaurant.

So that’s going to wrap this up for this special food pastitsio (greek pasta bake) recipe. Thank you very much for your time. I am confident you will make this at home. There is gonna be more interesting food at home recipes coming up. Don’t forget to bookmark this page in your browser, and share it to your loved ones, friends and colleague. Thanks again for reading. Go on get cooking!