Hey everyone, it is Jim, welcome to my recipe page. Today, we’re going to prepare a special dish, pastitsio (greek pasta bake). One of my favorites. For mine, I am going to make it a bit unique. This is gonna smell and look delicious.

Pastitsio, my Dad's amazing - Greek Lasagna Classic Greek Pastitsio: Pasta Tray Bake Lasagna. Pastitsio is a favorite traditional Greek dinner recipe.

Pastitsio (greek pasta bake) is one of the most popular of recent trending foods on earth. It’s easy, it’s fast, it tastes delicious. It’s enjoyed by millions every day. Pastitsio (greek pasta bake) is something which I have loved my whole life. They are nice and they look wonderful.

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

The ingredients needed to make Pastitsio (greek pasta bake):

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

For the traditional pastitsio / Pasticcio recipe, layers of pasta, juicy minced beef and velvety béchamel sauce are baked together to create the. A simple authentic recipe for Pastitsio- a baked Greek pasta dish with a rich flavorful lamb (or beef) bolognese infused with Greek spices and flavors. A friend introduced Pastitsio to me a couple of years ago and I was instantly smitten. Deep, rich and hearty, this baked pasta dish.

Steps 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 :-) ).

Since it's Pasta Week at The Kitchn, I thought I'd share one of my favorite carb-loaded recipes. It was my oldest sister that first introduced me to Pastitsio, although we just thought it was a "baked lamb casserole" at the time. It wasn't until I researched the recipe further that I learned its real Greek origins. We love Pastitsio in part because it's so delicious and shamelessly in part because the name is so much fun to say. Ten years ago I was researching pasta bake recipes for a friend who was about to give birth when I came across a list of pasta bakes from around the world.

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