PASTITSO A pasta and ground beef casserole, tomato sauce, seasoned with onion, cinnamon and cheese and topped?!


Question: PASTITSO A pasta and ground beef casserole, tomato sauce, seasoned with onion, cinnamon and cheese and topped!?
does anyone have this recipe!?Www@FoodAQ@Com


Answers:
Pastitio (Greek Pasta With Seasoned Beef
And Bechamel)

Meat and Tomato Sauce
Ingredients:
2 T!. olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
3 large cloves garlic, minced
1 lb!. ground beef or lamb
1 tsp!. kosher salt
? tsp!. ground black pepper
? tsp!. cinnamon
1 tsp!. oregano
1 cup red wine or beef broth
15 oz!. can tomato sauce
Method:



Bechamel Sauce
Ingredients:
4 T!. butter
4 T!. flour
2 ? cups milk
1 tsp!. kosher salt
pinch of white pepper
4 large eggs, beaten
Method:



Topping
Ingredients:
2 cups grated Parmesan, Romano or Asiago cheese (or use a combination)
ground cinnamon
Method:



Pasta
Ingredients:
1 lb!. ziti, penne or rigatoni pasta, cooked a little underdone, drained
Method:


Have the pasta cooking while making the sauces!. In a large skillet, heat the oil and sauté onion until soft!. Stir in the garlic; sauté another minute!. Add the ground beef or lamb, salt, pepper and cinnamon!. Cook until meat is no longer pink, crumbling as you cook!. Stir in the oregano, wine and tomato sauce!. Simmer on low heat, covered, for 15 minutes!. Taste for seasoning!. For béchamel sauce: Heat the butter in medium saucepan, stir in the flour and whisk over medium heat until incorporated!. Slowly whisk in the milk and cook until thickened!. Stir in the salt and pepper!. Taste for seasoning!. Cool slightly in saucepan!. Have the eggs beaten in separate bowl!. When sauce is cooled, whisk in the eggs!.
To assemble: Place 1 cup of the tomato sauce on the bottom of a 9” x 13” baking pan!. Top with ? of the pasta, ? of the remaining tomato sauce, and ? of the béchamel sauce!. Sprinkle with some of the grated cheese!. Continue in same manner with remaining pasta, tomato sauce and béchamel sauce!. Sprinkle top with remaining grated cheese and a little ground cinnamon!. (Can be made a day ahead up to this point, refrigerated and then baked!.) Bake in 375o oven for 30-35 minutes, uncovered!. Cool slightly before cutting into 6-8 portions!. Serves 6-8!.

A local Greek restaurant prepares this and it is amazing!. A local Greek market sells the pasta and sauce mix, also!.Www@FoodAQ@Com

That's Allspice, Nutmeg, & Cinnamon!
Unusual combination for a meat dish; more often in desserts!.Www@FoodAQ@Com

It really isn't a casserole, at all!.Www@FoodAQ@Com

What's up with the cinnamon!?
That's kinda like, what word doesn't match
the others!.Www@FoodAQ@Com

Greek Recipes, with May Lerios: Pastitsio

Pastitsio is the Greek form of the Italian word pasticcio, which means hodgepodge (among other things)!. The Greek variant is definitely simpler, and less hodgepodge-y than its Italian counterpart!.
For 8 people (You can make less by halving the recipe)


The Meat Sauce
Place into a pot:
2 medium onions, finely chopped,
1 lb of lean minced beef, and
2 tbsp unsalted butter (a total of 9 tbsp will be used for this recipe)!.
Mix together, and cook over high heat, while stirring continuously until none of the meat is red!.
Keeping the pot on the stove, add

60 oz peeled and diced tomatoes (including the tomato juice in the tin can(s)),
1 tsp ground cinnamon, and
1/4 tsp black pepper!.
Keep the heat high while stirring, just until the tomato juice starts to boil!.
Then, reduce heat to low, and let simmer for 45 minutes!.

The Pasta
In the meantime, fill up a pot with 8 cups water, and bring it to a boil over high heat!.
Add:
1 tbsp salt, and
1 lb of Misko macaroni pastitsio No!. 2 pasta!.
The Misko brand of pasta is not easy to find; you'll have to look at groceries that import Mediterranean food, and you'll still have to be pretty lucky to find this Greek brand!. This pasta is long and straight (like spaghetti), but tubular (like macaroni), and fairly thick, which allows excellent absorption of the meat sauce in the final dish!. Reasonable alternatives are
penne rigate, cavatappi, or any short, tubular pasta (you need the tubular shape to give volume to the dish)!.

Misko macaroni pastitsio No!. 2 pasta!.
Stir often to make sure the pasta doesn't stick (to the pot or to itself)!. The pasta should be ready (al-dente, not fully cooked) in 15 minutes, at which point you should remove the pot from the heat!.
You may drain the pasta and set it aside, but then it will get sticky!.
So, instead, replace the hot water with some cold water in the pot and set aside; then drain right before putting together the dish!.



The pasta is ready!.
The Cream Sauce
Beat and set aside:
3 eggs!.
Grate and set aside in a bowl:
2 cups mozarella cheese, and
1 cup parmesan cheese!.

n yet another pot, melt over medium heat:
6 tbsp unsalted butter!.
When melted, add:
8 (level) tbsp flour, and
3 1/2 cups whole milk!.
Mix very thoroughly with a spatula (to scrape the bottom of the pot), until the mixture is smooth!.
Keep mixing until the sauce starts to boil (and thicken)!.
It is very important to keep stirring and scraping the bottom with the spatula, or the sauce at the bottom of the pot will burn!.
When the sauce boils, turn off the heat!.
Then mix in 1 cup of the cheese mixture until it melts inside the sauce!.

Now mix in the beaten eggs as well!.
Do not dump the eggs into the pot and then mix; if you do so, the eggs will float on top of the thick sauce, and they'll turn into omelette when they contact the hot sides of the pot and the sauce's surface!.
Instead--pour in the eggs in three equal doses and mix until fully absorbed each time before adding the next dosage!. That's it! This creamy sauce is called Bechamel (Béchameil), and it's a common element of many recipes as pasta sauce, gravy, etc!.



Bechamel sauce is ready!.
The dish
Set out a baking pan (I recommend a 14x10x2 in3 pan) greased with1 tbsp unsalted butter!.
Place into the pan layers of the items you prepared earlier, as follows:

half the drained pasta (spread out evenly),
1 cup of the grated cheese mixture (sprinkled),
the meat sauce; do not strain the sauce: pour the juice into the pot, because it's that juice that will cook the pasta all the way through while baking;
Then add the remaining half of the pasta,
the cream sauce,
the last cup of the grated cheese mixture (sprinkled)!.


The dish is now ready for the oven!.
Bake in a moderate oven (350 degrees) for
about 1 hour, or until the sprinkled cheese and
cream sauce turns golden brown!.

Set aside for 4 hours!.
Place in fridge for 12 hours!.
Reheat in microwave, and serve hot!.
It is also possible to eat the dish 1 hour after
removing it from the oven, but it may be
somewhat watery and crumbly!.Www@FoodAQ@Com





The consumer Foods information on foodaq.com is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for medical advice or treatment for any medical conditions.
The answer content post by the user, if contains the copyright content please contact us, we will immediately remove it.
Copyright © 2007 FoodAQ - Terms of Use - Contact us - Privacy Policy

Food's Q&A Resources