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Bonjour my friends, I’m Frankie and welcome to Club Foody! When the temperature starts dropping
casseroles and foods simmering for hours becomes a weekly affair like Cassoulet, Lasagna, Tuna Casserole,
Chicken Divan, Tetrazzini, Goulash and so on. Here's a pasta dish that is absolutely
divine that I enjoy making during this time of year…
In today’s episode, I’ll show you how to make my Pastitsio! This Greek baked pasta
is incredibly delicious! Made with ground beef and ground lamb along with a nice béchamel sauce,
this is the perfect flavorful casserole dish to serve to your family! So my friends, let’s get cooking!
In a large saucepan over medium heat, we’ll add oil and when it gets hot, we’ll add
the onions and sprinkle on some ground sea salt. We’ll sauté for a couple minutes.
Now we’ll add ground lamb and ground beef. We’ll cook until browned, breaking into
small pieces. If you come across this kitchen tool, buy it! The meat chopper does the job
so fast, it’s amazing! – and by the way, Nooo, I don’t get paid for saying that.
So halfway through cooking, we’ll season with freshly ground black pepper then add the pressed
garlic and continue cooking until the meat is almost done. Then we’ll add some tomato
paste to it. To get a great kitchen trick for your leftover tomato paste, click on the
top right corner of your screen. So we’ll stir until well combined and finish cooking
the meat. Next, we’ll add dry red wine, stir, increase the heat to medium-high and
cook until the liquid is evaporated which includes the fat as well. Not only does the
meat absorb it but we also want the consistency of the sauce to be thick, more concentrated
than a Bolognese sauce. This might take about 8 to 10 minutes. To this, we’ll add
fire roasted crushed tomatoes, granulated sugar, some dried thyme leaves as well as
dried oregano, ground cinnamon, a little bit of ground cloves and of course, freshly ground
black pepper and ground sea salt. We’ll give a good stir so the ingredients are well
blended before adding a large bay leaf. We’ll reduce the heat to medium-low and let it simmer
gently for 30 to 35 minutes, stirring occasionally. Now an ingredient that is not Greek at all
that I like to add is cayenne pepper. It gives just a slight kick, a little oomph to the
dish. It’s optional but totally recommended. Keep in mind that the béchamel sauce
will mellow out all the ingredients so by adding cayenne, it will bring the dish together
nicely. After 30 minutes or so, the sauce should be done - it’s okay if there’s
a little fat at the bottom as long as it’s thick. We’ll take the bay leaf out and discard it.
We’ll remove the saucepan from the heat and let it cool off while we make the béchamel sauce.
In a 4-quart pot over medium heat, we’ll add butter and when it’s melted,
we’ll add the equal amount of flour. We’ll whisk the roux constantly for 5 minutes to
remove the raw taste from the flour. A few minutes later, we should have a nice smooth
consistency so we’ll pour in the warm milk while whisking continuously until all incorporated
and the sauce is smooth with no lumps. Now we’ll grate some nutmeg. Of course you
can use the one that’s already grated but why? Using fresh is much better… So we’ll add
about a ¼ teaspoon of it then the same amount of ground sea salt as well as white
pepper. We’ll whisk again so the seasonings are well blended. Now we’ll introduce the
egg yolks to the sauce by scooping up some béchamel and slowly adding it to the yolks,
whisking constantly. We’ll continue adding a little at the time until the eggs are tempered.
Then a few ladles later, we’ll add the warm yolks to the pot and whisk them into the mixture.
Before we continue with the béchamel sauce, we’ll start boiling the water in a large
pot, adding a fair amount of salt. Now this is what I use… bucatini #2. Most specialty
grocers carry it but if you can’t find it, the next best pasta to use is either ziti
or penne which will resemble the way a typical Pastitsio looks. So we’ll add the pasta
to the boiling salted water and cook for 3 minutes "less" than the package directions because
it will soften more when we transfer the casserole to the oven. Mine says 12 minutes therefore
I’m setting my timer for 9. While the pasta is cooking, let’s go back to the béchamel sauce...
We’ll add a ¼ cup at a time of Kefalotyri cheese and whisk until
well incorporated between each addition. This is an amazing cheese and it’s not as salty
as Parmesan. This can also be found in many specialty stores but don’t go out of your
way to buy it because you can substitute with either Parmesan or Romano cheese. After adding
all the cheese, the consistency of the sauce should be perfect; not too thick and not too thin.
We’ll keep it warm while looking after our noodles… When time is up, we’ll remove
from the heat and drain the pasta into a colander. We’ll let them sit for a few minutes to
make sure they’re well drained before returning them back to the pot. To this, we’ll add
egg whites and gently stir until well mixed. Then we’ll add more Kefalotyri cheese - about
a cup - and combine with the noodles. Adding these ingredients will help the pasta to stick
together better when it’s time to cut and serve. Now we’ll put the pasta mixture in
a large, deep baking dish, lightly greased. We’ll arrange the
noodles lengthwise to get them lined up so we have that nice visual effect when serving.
You can use a pasta fork but I prefer using my clean hands… it’s faster that way!
Next, we’ll top the pasta with the meat sauce and evenly spread it out. As you can
see, the sauce is thick and that’s exactly what we want so it doesn’t seep down into
the noodles. After pressing it down gently and leveling it out, we’ll sprinkle on 1
cup of cheese – I know there’s a lot of cheese which makes this dish so fabulous!
Then comes the béchamel sauce and we’ll spread it out evenly as well, smoothing out
the surface with a spatula. Guess what? We’re adding even more cheese now! I’m so happy
and if you’re also a cheese lover, I’m sure you have a big grin on your face too!
So we’ll use 1 ½ cups, enough to cover the entire surface. Okay it’s ready to be baked
but what I like to do is to place my baking dish on a large baking sheet just in
case it overflows. Now we’ll transfer to a 350ºF/177ºC preheated oven and bake for
45 to 50 minutes or until the top starts getting a little brown. Then we’ll put the broiler
on low and continue to bake for 5 to 8 minutes or until it’s nice and brown. We’ll carefully
remove from the heat, sprinkle on some
fresh chopped parsley and let it rest for 15 minutes before serving so it stays together
for a nice presentation…
And my friends, this is our Pastitsio! If you’ve never had this rich casserole before,
it has to be on your “must try” list this season. It’s like having Italian lasagna
but a Greek version, packed with wonderful flavors! After you try this gorgeous baked
pasta dish, you’ll understand why I love it so much….
I hope you give it a try soon and be sure to visit clubfoody.com for ingredient amounts,
directions, and more info… Until next time my friends, bon appétit!
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