Pastitsio is a very popular recipe in Greece whose origin lies in the Italian pasticcio, that is, baked cakes with layers of pasta and ragu. These dishes also derive from recipes already known by the Romans and called pasticium, which spread rapidly throughout the Mediterranean. Apart from the Italian pasticcio, we find the Maltese timpana and this Greek recipe that concerns us today. Although this is the accepted theory, others instead indicate that the origin of these dishes is Greece itself and therefore the Italian lasagna would be a descendant of a primitive pastitsio.
The pastitsio consists of a layer of pasta that is covered with minced meat, all topped with a bechamel sauce with kefalotyri cheese. As you can see, very similar to Italian lasagna.
In Greece it is used for family meals with many diners, at the weekend ("sábatokiriákos", literally Saturday-Sunday), because it is easy to make, satiating and also quite cheap.
The pasta used is usually sold as "pasta para pastitsio", tubular, straight and medium length, but you can also use bucatini (a kind of tubular spaghetti, that is, with a central hole), macaroni or penne. It will be difficult for you to find pasta for pastitsio outside of stores specializing in Greek food.
INGREDIENTS (6/8 diners)
for the dough
- 500 grams (1.1 lbs) of tubular pasta (for example macaroni or bucatini)
- Half a cup of grated cheese (Greeks use kefalotyri but you can use any other semi-fat you find)
For the meat ragout
- 800 grams (1.8 lbs) of minced beef (or mixed beef/pork)
- 500 grams (1.1 lbs) of crushed tomato
- 2 purple onions (sweet)
- 1 large carrot
- 2 cloves of garlic
- half a cup of cognac
- 1 cinnamon stick
- Salt
- ground black pepper
- extra virgin olive oil
For the bechamel
- 100 grams (3.5 oz) of butter
- 100 grams (3.5 oz) of white flour
- 1 liter (5 cups) of milk
- 1 pinch of nutmeg
- Salt
First we are going to prepare the meat ragout.
In a frying pan with a generous jet of oil, fry the finely chopped onions and the garlic cloves without the green germ, also very finely chopped. We also add the grated carrot. When the onion is transparent, add the meat, seasoning.
Let cook until the meat is visibly done. At that time we add the half cup of cognac and the cinnamon stick. We wait until the liquor has almost completely evaporated.
At that time we remove the cinnamon stick and add the crushed tomato. Let it cook over low heat until it is quite dry (the drier, the better). Season with salt and pepper and reserve. By the way, the use of cinnamon is quite common in contexts outside of sweets. In fact, one of its first uses was to aromatize meat stews, long before its use in confectionery.
We cook the pasta according to the manufacturer's instructions to obtain it al dente but considering that it is going to be baked later, subtract two or three minutes. For example, if the manufacturer says that it is al dente after 8 minutes, we cook it for only 5. After cooking, we remove it from the heat by pouring it into a colander. Then we take it to a bowl and remove it with a generous tablespoon of butter while it is still hot. This will impregnate the paste and it will be loose.
The next thing is to make the bechamel.
In a saucepan over medium heat, pour the butter and fry the previously sifted flour in it. When it turns brown, add the milk without stopping stirring until it thickens. Add half a teaspoon of salt and a pinch of nutmeg and we can now assemble the source where we will bake the pastitsio.
We paint the source with oil or melted butter.
Place the boiled pasta on the bottom.
Sprinkle part of the grated cheese on top of the pasta.
We cover the above with the meat.
Place the bechamel over the meat, generously sprinkling with more grated cheese.
We preheat the oven to 180 degrees (356 F).
We introduce for 20 minutes, giving another 5 minutes of gratin for the surface to brown.
We serve hot, cutting the portions directly from the source. With a good salad, you have a more than complete meal.