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Pastitsio

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Ingredients

  • enough olive oil, to just coat the bottom of a large pot
  • 2 large onions, finely chopped
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • 2 lbs lean ground meat (I often use a combo of beef and pork, lamb would be good too, but go heavier on the beef)
  • 2 (16 ounce) cans diced tomatoes with juice (concasse)
  • 1⁄3 cup chopped pitted kalamata olive (optional)
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1⁄2 teaspoon pepper
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1⁄2 cup red wine
  • 1 cinnamon stick, broken in two

  • Pasta

  • 1 lb penne or 1 lb rigatoni pasta
  • 3 tablespoons melted butter
  • 2 cups whole milk
  • 2 eggs, beaten
  • 1⁄2 cup grated kefalotiri or 1⁄2 cup romano cheese or 1⁄2 cup parmesan cheese

  • Bechamel Sauce

  • 6 tablespoons butter
  • 1⁄3 cup flour
  • 4 cups milk
  • 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
  • 1⁄8 teaspoon pepper
  • 1⁄4 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 3 eggs
  • 1⁄2 lb grated kefalotiri or 1⁄2 lb romano cheese or 1⁄2 lb parmesan cheese, divided

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    1. For the meat sauce, put some olive oil in a large pot; saute onion until lightly browned; add garlic; add meat and cook until brown, crumbling with a fork; add remaining meat sauce ingredients to skillet; mix well; cover and simmer for 1 hour, stirring occasionally, until quite thick; let mixture cool; remove and discard cinnamon stick and bay leaf.
    2. Prepare pasta by boiling until al dente in plenty of boiling, salted water; drain and place pasta in a large bowl; add butter, milk, eggs and 1/2 cup cheese; gently stir to coat; set aside.
    3. To prepare bechamel sauce, melt butter over medium heat in a saucepan; stir in flour until smooth, cook, whisking for 2 minutes; gradually add milk, stirring, until thickened; lower heat; add salt, pepper and nutmeg; remove from heat.
    4. In medium-sized bowl, beat 3 eggs; slowly add hot cream sauce to eggs; stir thoroughly so eggs don't curdle.
    5. Preheat oven to 350°F and butter or oil (with olive oil) a large baking pan (my pan is about 18" x 10").
    6. Empty 1/2 of the penne mixture over bottom of pan; cover evenly with all of meat sauce; sprinkle 1/3 of the cheese over meat sauce; add remaining penne mixture, spreading evenly; sprinkle another 1/3 of the cheese over top; pour bechamel sauce evenly over entire casserole; top with remaining cheese.
    7. Bake until bechamel sauce sets and has golden-brown patches across top, approximately 45 minutes to 1 hour; cool at least 20 minutes before cutting into pieces for serving.
    8. Freezer Notes: Once the baked pastitsio has completely cooked, cut serving-size pieces, double-wrap in foil and freeze. Defrost in the usual manner and reheat in microwave (or oven) for a delicious, quick meal, when there's little time to cook and dinner is ready and waiting in the freezer!

     

    Recipe from www.food.com

    Extra Virgin Olive Oil Suggestion

    SPARTA GROVES 250ml