It yells: GREEK and its irresistible! Same as Mousaka, minus the veggies, add the pasta!
Ingredients
- 1kg mince (you can use half/half of whichever mince you prefer)
- 6 tablespoons can crushed tomatoes
- 1 large red onion finely chopped
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon ground allspice
- A handful of finely chopped parsley
- Salt and pepper
- 200ml cooking cream
- 1 teaspoon sweet paprika
- #2 Macaroni for Pastitsio (found at a local ethnic shop) or substitute with 500g penne
- 200g mixed grated cheeses (preferably kefalotyri or kefalograviera if you can find it!)
- Olive oil
For the béchamel:
- 3 sachets Jotis béchamel sauce powder
- 1 ½ Litre of full fat milk
Directions
- Prepare your mince. Saute onion with 2 tablespoons of olive oil for a couple of minutes. Add mince and break apart with a spoon till it has become fine. Add a cup of water and let simmer on a medium heat until water has evaporated. Repeat one more time until mince has cooked.
- Add tomato sauce and seasonings, mix well and remove off heat.
- For the béchamel sauce, simply follow instructions on the box OR you can attempt to make it on your own if you have time on your hands! Here is a simple recipe that I found online if you are interested https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/white-sauce-or-bechamel-sauce-40046
- While you prepare your mince, boil your pasta according to package directions and once its done, remove it off the heat and strain it in your sink. In the pot where your pasta was cooking, add your cooking cream with 2 tablespoons of grated parmesan, add your pasta mix well and place it in your baking dish.(30×20)
- This is the first layer of your pastitsio. Second, add the mince evenly and finally, pour the béchamel on top. Sprinkle with your grated cheese mix and bake for 45 minutes on 180deg Celsius until golden brown on top! Let it rest for 15minutes before cutting to avoid it from falling apart!
