Pastisio
Baked Pasta
By: Eleni Saltas
The thought of assembling layers of creamy pasta, juicy minced meat, and a thick béchamel sauce used to intimidate me. But, after learning from my yiayia and trying different types of pastitsios from Athens to San Fransisco, that intimidation has been put to rest.
Pastitsio chefs all have their preferences. They may use long or short noodles, thick or thin pastas and vary the amount of béchamel sauce topping. My recipe comes with a lighter béchamel sauce enriched with two different types of cheese that are also used throughout the dish. Ricotta cheese is added to cooked pasta, plus cheese is stirred in both the meat and béchamel sauce. The result offers a perfect bite every time.
Prep Time:
50-60min
Total Time:
2hrs
Servings:
8-10 (9×13 pan)
Good For:
Dinner
Ingredients
For the meat sauce
- 2-3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 2 pounds ground beef
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- 2 teaspoons oregano
- 3 teaspoons cinnamon, or more to taste
- 1 bunch parsley, finely chopped
- 1 large yellow onion, finely diced
- 3 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1 (8-ounce) can diced tomatoes
- 1 (15-ounce) can tomato sauce
- 1⁄4 cup grated cheese (such as Kefalotyri, Romano, or Parmesan cheese)
For the pasta - 1 pound pasta of your choice (I prefer ziti, penne, misko no 2)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1⁄2 cup ricotta cheese
- Bread crumbs
For the bechemal sauce - 3⁄4 cups butter
- 1⁄2 cup all-purpose flour
- 5 cups warm milk
- 1⁄4 cup grated cheese (such as Kefalotyri, Romano, or Parmesan cheese)
- 2 teaspoons nutmeg
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- 2 eggs, beaten
Step by Step Instructions
For the Meat Sauce
In a large sauce pan, heat olive oil over medium heat and sauté the onions until translucent. Add the garlic and continue to sauté.
Add the ground beef and break it up into small chunks with a wooden spoon. Season well with oregano, salt, pepper and cinnamon, and brown the beef. Mix in the parsley.
Add tomato sauce and diced tomatoes and simmer until liquid is mostly absorbed, about 20 minutes. Taste and add more seasoning to your preference. Don’t be afraid to season! Stir in grated cheese and set aside.
For the Pasta
Boil a pot of water and add a teaspoon of salt and extra virgin olive oil. Cook the pasta about 1-2 minutes less than the package instructions (or they will get mushy when being cooked in the oven).
Drain the pasta and rinse well. Transfer to a mixing bowl and stir in ricotta cheese.
For the Bechamel Sauce
Melt butter into a saucepan over medium heat.
As soon as it melts, add the flour and whisk well until a white paste forms, about 3 minutes. Slowly add the milk in batches to avoid lumps, whisking continuously. The mixture will be thick at first, so be patient and continue to whisk.
Once the sauce is thick and creamy, remove from heat. Stir in grated cheese, salt, pepper and nutmeg. Add the two eggs, whisking quickly so the eggs don’t scramble. Set sauce aside until needed.
Step 4
Preheat the oven to 350° F.
Sprinkle a 9” x 13” baking pan with bread crumbs.
Spread half of the pasta, or enough to evenly cover the pan, and reserve the rest. Pour the meat mixture over the pasta. Top with the remaining pasta. Pour the béchamel sauce over the top of the pasta and smooth out with a spatula. Sprinkle with extra grated cheese and a dash of nutmeg.
Bake for about 50 minutes, until top is golden brown. Remove from heat and let stand for at least 20 minutes before serving.
Oh yes, Elini—this one is spectacular! Takes a lot of time like lasagna. Thanks for sharing the recipe.
Yes It can be a bit time consuming but so worth It! Thanks for reading along.
Eleni, I’m amazed you took the time to write every little detail!!! It sounds excellent and I can’t wait to make it! Thank you so very much for sharing the recipe! Υγεία στα χέρια σου και πάντα ο Θεός να σε έχει καλά! Ευχαριστώ και πάλι !!!
Ah of course, I just want to be as helpful as I can with this one because it can get confusing! Once you make it once it’s a breeze. Thank you so much for reading along, Ereni, I do hope you get around to making the dish! xo
Looks delicious!
Thanks Terri, I hope you give It a try!
It’s interesting to see how everyone’s pastisio recipe is always a little different but it always tastes great no matter what! My family doesn’t tend to use ricotta cheese and tomato sauce in the meat, but I’ve had versions where those ingredients are used and it’s always delicious. Thanks for sharing your recipe!
Oh yes, I do love all the different variations to this dish as well that’s what makes pastitsio so amazing! I’ve learned from a friend adding ricotta makes the pasta stick together better (plus gives a creamy bite every time) and I’ve loved it ever since! Thank you for your comment Nick, I appreciate you reading along!
Hi Eleni. I’ve only recently started following you and enjoying this all so much! I finally worked out how to find your recipes! Okay … I just wanted to give you another suggestion for the meat filling of your pastitsio. I have changed my own recipe as I just wanted to make it slightly differently after cooking it for decades with cinnamon and parsley . So.. I took those out . I added basil instead, tomato paste and chopped tinned tomatoes some red wine , a little bit of sugar as well as salt and pepper . It’s totally divine . I’ve made it this way for the past 5 years and people seriously go crazy for it. I make it as just a spaghetti sauce too for the family . Please let me know what you think ?
Hi Stella! Thank you so much for your comment and your suggestion. I will have to try It that way for sure especially with the basil that sounds wonderful. I’ve never added sugar to any of my sauces but see that often so will give that a try. Thank you you’re wonderful!
Hi I love your posts we just got back fro Greece also!!! I want to move there!!! I made your pastitsio and ended up throwing away half the sauce too much for my 9×13 pan what went wrong??
Sounds like you had a great time in Greece! So you made too much sauce, but otherwise the dish turned out? That’s honestly the tricky part with the sauce—some people like a lot some like very little so I went with a happy medium in this sauce so I hope in the future you can adjust to what you like!