Pastitsio
Bucatini, cinnamon-spiced beef and creamy bechamel.
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Greek pastitsio uses bucatini (thick hollow tubes) specifically - the bechamel seeps into the hollow centers. If you can't find it, ziti or thick penne is the closest sub. Skip the spaghetti.
Ingredients
Everything below makes 6 servings.
- 1 lbbucatini or ziti
- 1½ lbground beef (85/15)
- 1 largeyellow onionfinely diced
- 4garlic clovesminced
- 3 tbsptomato paste
- 1 cancrushed tomatoes
- 1 tspground cinnamon
- ½ tspground allspice
- 2whole cloves
- 1bay leaf
- 1 tspdried oregano
- 8 tbspunsalted butter
- ⅔ cupall-purpose flour
- 4 cupswhole milkwarmed
- 1 cupgrated parmesan
- ¼ tspground nutmeg
- 3large eggslightly beaten
- 2 tbspolive oil
- 2 tspkosher salt
- ½ tspfreshly ground black pepper
In the app these rescale to however many people you're feeding.
Nutrition
Per serving, as written.
- 910calories
- 42gprotein
- 78gcarbs
- 48gfat
Swaps move these numbers. A different protein or base changes them.
Instructions
Knife work first, then the stove. Nothing below asks you to chop while something burns.
- Finely dice onion. Mince 4 garlic cloves.
- Warm milk in a saucepan or microwave.
- Preheat oven to 375F. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.
Build meat sauce
Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high. Add ground beef, breaking up, cook 6-7 min until browned. Drain excess fat (leave about 1 tbsp). Add onion, cook 5 min. Add garlic, cinnamon, allspice, cloves, oregano; stir 30 sec. Stir in tomato paste, cook 1 min. Add crushed tomatoes, bay leaf, salt, pepper, 1/2 cup water. Simmer 20 min until thick. Discard bay leaf and cloves.
33 min · hands offBoil pasta
Cook bucatini in salted boiling water for 2 min less than package - it'll finish cooking in the oven. Drain, toss with 1 tbsp olive oil so it doesn't stick.
10 min · hands onMake bechamel
Melt butter in a saucepan over medium. Whisk in flour and cook 2 min until toasty. Slowly whisk in warm milk a ladle at a time until smooth. Cook 6-8 min, whisking, until thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Off heat, whisk in nutmeg, salt, and 2/3 of the parmesan. Let cool 2 min, then whisk in beaten eggs in a thin stream.
12 min · hands onLayer
Butter a 9x13 baking dish. Toss the pasta with 1 cup of the bechamel and 2 beaten egg whites if you saved any - this binds the bottom layer. Spread half the pasta. Spoon meat sauce evenly. Top with remaining pasta. Pour bechamel over the top, smooth with a spatula. Scatter remaining parmesan on top.
5 min · hands onBake
Bake at 375F for 40-45 min until deeply golden on top and bubbling at the edges. REST 20 MIN before slicing - pastitsio needs to set or it falls apart.
40 min · hands offMake it yours
Every swap here is one Maui already knows how to make, including what it does to the timing.
Lamb is more traditional in some regions - same technique, richer flavor.
Add 1 extra tbsp olive oil to the meat sauce to compensate for leanness.
Chop salad while pastitsio rests. Adds about 10 minutes.
What keeps
Pastitsio holds beautifully - 4 days fridge, freezes 2 months. Reheat covered at 350F for 20 min.
Honestly tastes more cohesive day 2.
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