Recipe courtesy of Kouzina Greek Taverna and Bar
Pastitsio
- Level: Intermediate
- Yield: 15 servings
-
- Nutritional Analysis
- Per Serving
- Serving Size
- 1 of 15 servings
- Calories
- 606
- Total Fat
- 32
- Saturated Fat
- 16
- Carbohydrates
- 41
- Dietary Fiber
- 3
- Sugar
- 7
- Protein
- 37
- Cholesterol
- 168
- Sodium
- 743
- Total: 3 hr 55 min (includes cooling time)
- Active: 1 hr 10 min
Ingredients
Spice Pouch:
1/2 teaspoon whole allspice
1/2 teaspoon whole cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
3 cinnamon sticks, broken
Meat Sauce:
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 large yellow onion, finely diced
4 cloves garlic, finely diced
3 1/2 pounds ground 90/10 beef
1 1/2 cups tomato puree
1 cup white wine
1/2 cup tomato paste
1/4 cup salt
2 tablespoons ground black pepper
Bechamel Sauce:
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 quart milk
1 cup grated Pecorino-Romano
3 egg yolks, lightly beaten (reserve whites for assembly)
Assembly:
1 stick butter, melted
1 pound bucatini pasta cooked to al dente (1 minute less than package instructions)
3 egg whites, beaten until foamy, plus 1 egg yolk
3/4 cup grated Pecorino-Romano
Directions
Special equipment:
cheesecloth; kitchen twine- For the spice pouch: Place a 6-inch square of cheesecloth on a work surface. Add the allspice, cloves, nutmeg and cinnamon sticks to the center. Fold up the corners and tie with twine.
- For the meat sauce: In a medium saucepan, heat the olive oil. Add the onions and garlic and saute until the onions are translucent. Add the ground beef and cook until browned. Add the tomato puree, white wine, tomato paste, salt and pepper. Add the spice pouch. Cook for 45 minutes on low heat, stirring occasionally to keep from burning. Remove the spice pouch.
- For the bechamel sauce: In a medium saucepan on medium heat, add the butter and let melt. Add the flour, nutmeg and salt. Cook for 3 minutes, stirring. Add the milk and romano cheese. Cook, stirring, until smooth. Remove from the heat, then stir in the egg yolks. Return to the heat for 2 minutes to thicken, then remove from the heat.
- For the assembly: Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
- Spread 2 tablespoons butter in 10-by-12-inch roasting or lasagna pan, coating the entire pan. Add half of the cooked pasta to the pan. Add the beaten egg whites to the pan, stirring into pasta, then evenly spread the pasta to cover the bottom of the pan. Layer half the meat sauce evenly over the pasta, then 1/4 cup romano over the meat sauce. Add the remaining pasta, then the remaining meat sauce. Layer on another 1/4 cup romano. Evenly pour the bechamel sauce over the top in a final layer. Beat the remaining egg yolk with the remaining 6 tablespoons melted butter, being careful that the butter isn’t so hot as to cook the egg. Drizzle evenly over the bechamel. Sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup romano over the top.
- Place a water bath on the bottom shelf of the oven. Place the lasagna pan in the water bath.
- Bake the pastitsio until golden brown, 45 to 55 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool 1 hour before cutting.