Pastitsio

As a non-Greek human being, I sure feel like my stomach is going Greek.

 

I've been cooking a lot of Greek food lately and experimenting with Greek-style herbs and seasonings to update some other recipes I have.

 

I've seen pastitsio before on various blogs and such, but I never paid much attention to it.  Truthfully, I thought that it was basically just a cool name for baked ziti.  It wasn't until I actually researched it that I found out how wrong I was. 

 

Pastitsio is kind of a cross between baked ziti (so I'm not completely wrong after all), lasagna and moussaka.  There's a bunch of sauce and noodles and ground meat, but it's organized neatly in layers.  Then there's a creamy bechamel sauce poured over the top. 

 

Who knew I'd learn to like bechamel so much?

 

But oh, am I learning.

 

Greek casseroles are quickly climbing on my list of things I NEED to bake.  I'm super glad I started with this rich and savory Pastitsio first.  As equally glad as I am that I made a whole pan of it and I can have leftovers for days.  Moussaka is next on my list of Greek foods to try, but for now, I'm savoring this little slice of heaven.

 

Or, in my case, this big, fat, thick, delicious slice of heaven!

 

 

 

Pastitsio

 

1 lb. penne noodles

1 lb. ground beef

2 tbsp olive oil

4 cups Red Sauce

1/2 white onion, diced

2 tbsp garlic

2 cups mozzarella cheese

2 cups Bechamel Sauce

Salt & Pepper to taste

 

 

 

Preheat oven 350F.

 

Cook and drain penne noodles.

 

In a large skillet, saute onions over medium heat in olive oil until translucent.  Add garlic and cook an additional minute.  Add ground beef and cook until no longer pink.  Drain excess liquid.  Season to taste.  Stir in Red Sauce and remove from heat.

 

In a greased casserole dish, layer 1/3 of the noodles.  Follow with 1/3 of the beef mixture and 1 cup of cheese.  Continue this layering until the third layer of beef is on the top.  Pour the bechamel over the top.

 

Bake for 1 hour.