Greek Pastitisio

I made this dish last year for my B'Day lime with my girls. I found this recipe on a blog about food, the person is from South Africa, but sadly that's all I remember, I don't even remember the name of the blog. But the great thing is this recipe is great and we truly enjoyed it.

Greek Pastitisio (Baked Pasta with Ground Beef)

Makes about 8 large servings

For meat sauce

• 2lbs beef mince (ground beef)
• 2 large onions, finely chopped
• 3 large carrots, peeled and finely chopped
• 3 celery stalks, finely chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, crushed
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 tins Hunts fire roasted diced tomatoes
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 1 1/2 cups warm water
• 2 Beef maggi cubes
• 1tsp dried mint
• 1tbsp dried oregano
• 1tsp ground nutmeg
• 1tsp ground cloves
• 1tsp ground cumin
• 2tbsp brown sugar
• 2tbsp flour
• salt & pepper to taste

 For the Béchamel sauce (white sauce) 

• 4tbsp butter
• ¼ cup flour
• 2 ¾ cups milk, heated
• 1tsp ground nutmeg
• 1tsp paprika
• 1 cup Gouda cheese, grated
• salt & black pepper to taste
• 1 pk penne pasta, cooked

1. Start by making the meat sauce. In a large pot, fry the minced beef until browned. Remove from the pan and set aside.
2. In the same pot, fry the onions, carrots, celery and garlic until soft and fragrant. Add the bay leaves. Add the minced beef back into the pot and add the tomatoes, tomato paste, beef stock, herbs, flour and sugar. Allow to come to simmering point and turn the heat down.
3. Place the lid on the pot to simmer gently and allow thickening for 30 minutes.
4. Pre-heat the oven to 180°c and grease an oven proof dish (make sure it’s big enough).
5. To make the bechamel, gently melt the butter in a saucepan ensuring it doesn’t change colour. Stir in the flour until a glossy paste is formed.
6. Slowly pour in the warm milk. Only pour in a few tablespoons at a time and make sure that it’s well incorporated before adding again. When half of the milk has been incorporated, switch to a balloon whisk and add larger amount of the milk whilst whisking. The sauce should be thick and smooth.
7. Remove the saucepan from the heat and stir in the spices and cheese. Season to taste. At this point, also check the seasoning of the meat sauce and adjust.
8. To assemble the Pastitsio, combine the cooked pasta with just over half of the Béchamel sauce.
9. Pour all of the meat sauce into a prepared oven dish and smooth out. Follow with the pasta and finally the remaining of the Béchamel sauce.

10.  Place the assembled Pastitsio into the pre-heated oven and allow baking for 25-30 minutes until golden brown and bubbling.

11.  Remove the Pastitsio from the oven and allow to rest for 5 minutes before serving.

Hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I enjoyed it.


Much love,