Pastitsio

Serves:

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 750g beef mince
• 400g can diced tomatoes
• ½ cup beef stock
• ½ cup water
• 1/3 cup tomato paste
• ¼ cup white wine
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 egg, lightly beaten

Macaroni base

• 250g macaroni pasta
• 3/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten

Cheese sauce

• 90g butter, chopped
• ½ cup plain flour
• 3½ cups milk
• 1 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 2 egg yolks
• ¼ tsp nutmeg
• 2 tbsp dry breadcrumbs

Method

Preheat oven to moderate, 180C. Lightly grease 6-8 ramekins or a large ovenproof dish.

Heat oil in a large frying pan on high. Saute onions and garlic for 2-3 minutes until tender.

Add mince. Cook, stirring, for 4-5 minutes until browned.

Stir in tomatoes, stock, water, tomato paste, wine and cinnamon. Bring to boil.

Reduce heat, simmer for 20-25 minutes until liquid has almost evaporated. Remove from heat and cool.

Stir in egg and season to taste.

For the macaroni base, cook pasta according to packet instructions. Drain well.

In a large bowl, combine pasta, cheese and egg.

To make the cheese sauce, melt the butter in saucepan on medium heat. Blend in flour. Cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Remove from heat.

Gradually stir in milk until smooth. Return to heat and cook, stirring, for 1-2 minutes until mixture boils and thickens. Simmer for 3 minutes. Cool slightly.

Stir in cheese, egg yolks and nutmeg.

Press pasta into base of prepared dishes.

Top with meat sauce. Spread cheese sauce over. Sprinkle with breadcrumbs.

Bake 25-30 minutes (ramekins) or 50-60 minutes (large dish) until firm and lightly browned. Stand for 5 minutes before serving.

Notes:

• Feel free to vary the type of pasta used, I like to buy lots of penne to keep on hand since my family likes penne the best, but be sure to choose a pasta with a hole in it so the meat and sauce goes inside.
• This recipe is even better the day after!
• A really smart idea is to make this in the little ramekins at the beginning of a busy week so you can pull them out of the fridge and pop them straight into the oven on one of those nights when you just can’t face cooking.

Serving Suggestions

Note