Pastitsio

I just adore Greek food & this pasta bake is utterly divine! The Mediterranean diet overall is wonderful but the Greeks really do get it right. I have been to Crete & Corfu. My hope is to visit as many Greek islands as I can in coming years. This dish is a classic in Greece & may remind you of Lasagna though it certainly doesn't not taste the same.

6-8 Servings

Ingredients:

1kg minced beef

1 large onion, finely chopped

4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

400gr whole tinned tomatoes

1 tbsp oregano

2 stalks of celery, finely chopped

200ml red wine

100ml water

3 bay leaves

2 tbsp tomato paste

2 cinnamon sticks

1/2 tsp ground cloves

2 tbsp fresh origano

115gr butter

115gr flour

1L milk

1/2 tsp nutmeg

2 eggs

Grated cheese, in greece they use kefalotyri

500gr macaroni pasta

S&P

Instructions:

Heat a little olive oil in a pot & add the minced beef. Brown the beef before adding the onion.

Add the garlic, tinned tomatoes, oregano, celery, red wine, water, bay leaves, tomato paste, cinnamon, cloves, fresh oregano, S&P. Mix well & simmer for 1 hour.

Cook pasta until al dente.

Create a bechamel sauce by melting butter, adding flour & slowly pouring in the milk. Once it bubbles & thickens, add 1/2 tsp nutmeg, S&P.

Mix 1/4 of the bechamel sauce with the pasta, eggs & 30 gr of the grated cheese.

In a deep oven dish (I use a casserole dish), layer as follows:

1/3 of the pasta mix

1/2 of the meat mix

1/3 of the pasta mix

1/2 of the meat mix

1/3 of the pasta mix

Pour over the remaining bechamel sauce & scatter a generous layer of cheese over the top.

Bake at 180c for 40 minutes.