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Pastitsio (also Pastichio) is a classic Greek pasta bake made with pasta, meat sauce and topped with béchamel.
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5 from 8 votes

Mia Kouppa

https://miakouppa.com

Pastitio (large pan)

This delicious Greek classic is a layered, baked dish which includes pasta noodles, ground meat and a béchamel sauce.
Prep Time1 hour 15 minutes
Cook Time50 minutes
Resting time30 minutes
Total Time2 hours 35 minutes
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Greek
Author: Mia Kouppa

Equipment

  • 12 X 16 pan (3 inch depth)
  • Sauce pots

Ingredients

Meat sauce

  • 1 medium yellow onion
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 3 lbs ground meat (we use a combo of veal and pork)
  • 7 cups tomato sauce
  • 1 ½ teaspoons salt
  • 1 teaspoon pepper
  • 1½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 cup boiling water

For the Pasta:

  • 900 grams Greek pasta Misko brand, pastitsio no.2 see notes
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon salt

For the béchamel:

  • 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon all purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup olive oil
  • 2 liters milk 2% or 3.25%
  • 7 eggs, beaten

Assembly:

  • 3 tbsp olive oil
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 1/2 cup plus 6 tablespoons mizithra cheese see notes
  • 2 teaspoons mizithra to sprinkle on top of bechamel.

Instructions

For the meat sauce and pasta

  • Finely chop one medium onion and cook in 1/4 cup olive oil until softened
  • Add the meat, tomato sauce, salt, pepper, cinnamon and 1/2 cup boiling water to the pot.  Cook for 45 minutes over medium heat, uncovered.
  • Meanwhile, boil a large pot of water.  Add 1 tablespoon olive oil and 1 teaspoon salt to the water. When the water has come to a boil, add the pasta. Cook as per package directions.  Despite the fact that this pasta will go into the oven when the pastitsio is baking, cook the noodles until they are edible.
  • Once pasta is cooked, drain and set aside.

For the Béchamel

  • Heat olive oil in a heavy saucepan over high heat.
  • Add flour and mix continuously so that flour does not burn and cook for approximately 2 to 3 minutes. You don’t want your flour to brown.
  • Slowly add 2 liters of milk and then slowly stream in 7 beaten eggs. You must stir this mixture constantly with a wooden spoon or whisk.
  • Cook bechamel sauce for about 10 minutes on medium-low heat, while stirring constantly, until it has thickened but is still easily poured. You can can tell your sauce is ready if it coats a wooden spoon and you can draw a line across it with your finger.
  • Preheat oven to 400 ℉

To assemble

  • Take a 11 x 16 inch baking pan and grease it with 3 tablespoons of olive oil.
  • Sprinkle about 1 tablespoon of mizithra on bottom of pan.
  • Layer half the pasta on the bottom of the roasting pan.  Toss with 5 tablespoons of mizithra until evenly coated
  • Using a slotted spoon, spread the meat mixture over the pasta. The slotted spoon is important as your meat sauce will have a fair amount of liquid and you want to drain most of this off.
  • Sprinkle about 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg on top of the meat
  • Spread the rest of the pasta on top of the meat mixture and then top this layer of pasta with 1/2 cup of grated mizithra.
  • Pour the prepared bechamel sauce over the pasta. Use the back of a spoon to spread it evenly, ensuring that all of the noodles are covered with sauce.
  • Then, take a fork and insert it in several areas over the pastitsio and wiggle it around. This will help the bechamel seep in between the top layer of the noodles.
  • Sprinkle the 2 teaspoons of mizithra on top of the bechamel.
  • Bake pastitsio on the mid rack of your oven, uncovered for approximately 50 minutes. Keep an eye on it. You may want to turn your pan halfway through the cooking process if it is browning unevenly. You may also want to set your oven to broil for the last minute of baking in order to brown it more significantly on top, if desired.
  • Allow your pastitsio to cool for 20-30 minutes before serving.
  • Enjoy!

Notes

For the pasta:  If you can't find this pasta, no worries, you can substitute it with bucatini pasta no 2; or with penne pasta