Pastitsio (greek pasta bake)
- 500 grams (gluten free) pasta e.g. fusilli
- 1 sea salt
- 1 extra virgin olive oil
- 500 ml (semi-skimmed) milk
- 3 tsp margarine
- 6 tbsp corn flour
- 2 tsp grated nutmeg
- 500 grams minced veal or extra lean beef
- 250 ml tomato passata
- 1 large onion, finely squared
- 1 clove garlic, finely grated
- 1 tsp grated cinammon
- 2 tsp allspice
- 2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 cup red dry wine or 1/4 cup cognac
- 1 cup grated goat's cheese (e.g. feta)
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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 :-) ).
salt, extra virgin olive oil, margarine, corn flour, nutmeg, tomato passata, onion, clove garlic, cinammon, allspice, ground black pepper, red dry wine, grated goats cheese
Taken from cookpad.com/us/recipes/363290-pastitsio-greek-pasta-bake (may not work)