Pastitsio (Greek pasta bake)
A hearty pasta bake made with mince and tomatoes, macaroni pasta and a rich white sauce.
Ingredients
Serves: 5
- 450g macaroni pasta
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1/2 large onion, diced
- 450g beef mince (10% fat)
- 1 (400g) tin chopped tomatoes
- freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 175g grated Parmesan cheese, divided
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 tablespoon plain flour
- 140ml milk
- 1 egg yolk
Method
Prep:30min ›
Cook:30min ›
Ready in:1hr
- Preheat oven to 190 C / Gas 5.
- Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to the boil. Add macaroni pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain.
- Heat olive oil in a pan and cook garlic, onions and beef mince until meat is browned. Add tomatoes, pepper and oregano. Stir and cook about 5 minutes. Sprinkle in 1/2 of the Parmesan cheese.
- Lightly coat a baking dish with olive oil and spread 1/2 the cooked pasta in it. Add the meat sauce and cover with the remaining pasta.
- Melt butter in a saucepan and blend in flour. Slowly add milk, stirring until it almost begins to boil. In a bowl, blend remaining Parmesan cheese and egg yolk; slowly add the egg-cheese mixture to the milk sauce, stirring constantly.
- Pour sauce over macaroni and bake for 30 minutes. Top should be golden and a little crispy.
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Reviews & ratings
Average global rating:
(23)
Reviews in English (20)
My Greek boyfriend raved about this to his mother. Except he said I used the wrong noodles - his mother uses penne pasta instead. - 20 Oct 2006 (Review from Allrecipes US | Canada)
I found this recipe to be a bit bland. I will add some nutmeg next time. I will also increase the amount of bechamel as I like my pastitsio very creamy. - 25 Dec 2006 (Review from Allrecipes US | Canada)
We made this for the neighbors and served with a salad. Thought it was going to end up dry but really was not as you would think. Maybe could up the bechamel a little if you wanted an obvious sauce but proabably would not be as authentic. Good to esemble ahead of time and bake later - 22 Apr 2007 (Review from Allrecipes US | Canada)