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

Hey everyone, it is Jim, welcome to our recipe page. Today, we’re going to prepare a distinctive dish, pastitsio (greek pasta bake). It is one of my favorites. This time, I will make it a bit unique. This will be really delicious.

Taste Delicious, Italian-Inspired Pasta Recipes From Classico. The Pastitsio (or Pastichio) is a famous Greek pasta bake with a spiced meat sauce and a silky béchamel. It's ideal for a delicious Sunday dinner and it also freezes very well.

Pastitsio (greek pasta bake) is one of the most well liked of recent trending meals on earth. It is appreciated by millions daily. It’s simple, it is quick, it tastes yummy. They’re fine and they look fantastic. Pastitsio (greek pasta bake) is something that I’ve loved my whole life.

To begin with this recipe, we must prepare a few ingredients. You can cook pastitsio (greek pasta bake) using 16 ingredients and 4 steps. Here is how you cook that.

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

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. Watch the video in sign language here. And if you need a reference point, think of pastitsio as a baked pasta casserole or Greek lasagna.

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 :-) ).

Pastitsio is one of my favorite baked pasta dishes. My husband made this recipe for us a couple of months ago. It's not my favorite version; I found the cream sauce way too starchy and pasty. I also thought tossing the pasta with butter & parmesan made it a little too heavy and rich-tasting. Add the pasta to the meat and tomato sauce, and pour the mixture into a baking dish.

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