Pastitsio (Greek Lasagna)
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Pastitsio is a traditional Greek dish, made with layers of pasta, ground meat and tomatoes, and bechamel sauce. It's sometimes referred to as "Greek lasagna" because of the similar layers in an Italian lasagna. What makes this dish special are the traditional spices used in the Greek meat sauce. This authentic recipe is incredibly flavorful, and a rich, hearty dish that I guarantee you'll be making for years to come!
Ingredients
Pasta
Meat Filling
Bechamel Sauce
Topping
Instructions
Prepare the pasta.
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil on the stove.
Once boiling, add the pasta and cook according to package directions, until al dente.
Drain the pasta, transfer it to a large bowl and place it in the refrigerator to chill.
Once the pasta is chilled, toss it with the egg whites and feta cheese. Set aside.
Make the meat sauce.
Heat the olive oil in a large pot, or dutch oven, on the stove over medium-high heat.
Add the onions and cook for 4-5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for an additional minute.
Add the ground beef and cook for 7-8 minutes, or until browned, then drain any grease from the skillet.
Place the ground beef back on the stove and add the cinnamon, ground cloves, salt and pepper. Cook for 3-4 minutes.
Add the red wine, beef broth, diced tomatoes and tomato sauce. Simmer for 5 minutes.
Remove the meat sauce from the heat and set it aside to cool.
Make the bechamel sauce.
Start making a roux by melting the butter in a medium saucepan on the stove over medium heat.
Once the butter melts, whisk in the flour and cook for 1 minute while continuously stirring, until it turns into a paste.
Slowly pour the milk into the skillet, and stir while adding the milk. If the sauce starts to get lumpy, use a whisk to stir out any lumps.
Continue to stir the sauce over medium heat until it’s thickened, and coats the back of a spatula. This might take 10-15 minutes. You want the sauce thick, even thicker than a traditional bechamel sauce, so that it “sits” on top of the pastitsio, instead of dripping through into the other layers.
Once the sauce is thick and creamy, add the ground nutmeg, salt and shredded Kefalotyri (or pecorino) cheese. Stir the cheese and spices into the sauce.
Remove the bechamel from the heat on the stove and let it cool for 5 minutes.
Whisk the egg yolks into the bechamel sauce, then set it aside.
Assemble the pastitsio.
Add the prepared pasta to a large casserole dish, that’s at least 3 inches deep. Try to arrange the noodles lengthwise in the casserole dish, so when you cut the pastitsio, you have beautifully uniformed slices, with the pasta all going in one direction.
Pour the cooled meat sauce over the pasta in the casserole dish.
Pour the bechamel sauce over the meat sauce.
Top the pastitsio with ½ cup shredded Kefalotyri (or pecorino) cheese.
Bake the pastitsio.
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Place the assembled pastitsio in the oven and bake for 40-50 minutes, or until the cheese on top is brown and bubbling.
Let the pastitsio cool for at least 15 minutes before slicing. This will allow you to cut nice looking slices without all of the hot ingredients falling apart as you slice into it.
Notes
- The more you let the meat sauce cool, the more uniform (and pretty!) the slices will be. Allowing the meat sauce to cool completely before assembling the pastitsio means that the sauce will “sit” on top of the pasta, rather than soaking into it. This will give you perfect layers, as you slice into the pastitsio. You can make the meat sauce up to 24 hours in advance. Store it in the refrigerator until you’re ready to assemble the pastitsio. Making the meat sauce ahead of time will save you time when assembling the pastitsio, and it will allow the flavors in the sauce to soak in overnight, making the meat sauce even more flavorful! You can simmer the meat sauce longer, if you have time. Just like any good meat sauce, the longer it simmers, the deeper the flavor of the sauce. If you have more time, you can simmer the sauce for up to an hour on the stove. You can also make the entire casserole ahead of time. The casserole can be assembled and cooked up to 2 days in advance. Before serving the casserole, cover it with foil and place it back in a 350°F oven for 30 minutes. This will reheat the casserole throughout, and it will be just as delicious as when it was freshly baked! If the bechamel sauce becomes too thick to pour over the pastitsio, place it back in a skillet on the stove over medium heat and stir the sauce continuously until it becomes pourable again. Store pastitsio leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. Reheat the pastitsio in the microwave or oven. If reheating it in the oven, I recommend slicing the pastitsio into pieces, then placing the pieces on a foil-lined baking sheet. Cover the pastitsio with another piece of foil and reheat it in the oven at 350°F for 10-15 minutes, or until each piece is heated through. If reheating it in the microwave, place a sliced piece of pastitsio on a microwave-safe plate and into the microwave for 2-3 minutes, or until heated through. I do not recommend freezing prepared pastitsio, as the texture of the bechamel sauce will not be the same after it's in the freezer. However, you can make a double batch of the meat sauce and freeze half of it to make pastitsio another day. The frozen meat sauce will stay good in a freezer-safe container for up to 6 months in the freezer. Thaw the meat sauce in the refrigerator for 24 hours before preparing the rest of the pastitsio.
