Greek Pastitsio

Easy Pastitsio Pasta Recipe (Greek Lasagna) 

You've probably eaten pastitsio while on holiday in Greece - You'll find it on almost every menu along with the more familiar moussaka, the boss of Greek food! 

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But let me tell you, pastitsio is definitely up there too. 😋

What is pastitsio?

Sometimes spelt pastichio, is basically, like a lasagne, a layer of pasta followed by a delicious meat sauce and topped with béchamel (white sauce).

However, for pastitsio and moussaka, the béchamel sauce contains egg yolks.

Therefore once cooked in the oven it becomes a bit more of a wobbly sauce, rather than the sauce on lasagne - that's the only way I can describe it!

With that said if you've never tried pastitsio or moussaka, then you really should as they are both delicious.

The main difference is that the recipe for moussaka contains potatoes and aubergines (eggplant).

Can Pastitsio be made in advance?

Yes, you can prepare Pastitsio in advance. Assemble the pastitsio in your casserole dish, but do not bake.

Cover tightly refrigerate and bake it the next day when you are ready; with that said, I would remove it from the fridge at least 30 minutes before baking.

Whatever you do please don't leave out the allspice - seriously, taste the meat sauce before you add it and you'll see what I mean, it makes a huge difference to the taste.

It tastes okay but nothing to write home about. Once you add the allspice you will notice it becomes a thing of true deliciousness!

What is allspice?

Derived from the dried, unripe berries of the pimento tree, allspice delivers the flavours of many different spices including cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon and pepper.

Before being crushed down, allspice seeds resemble dark brown peppercorns.

The warm and earthy aroma of ground allspice makes it a key ingredient in many sweet and savoury dishes.

The flavour of allspice brings to mind cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and pepper.

You can make allspice at home and, to make 1 teaspoon: combine ½ teaspoon of cinnamon, ¼ teaspoon of ground cloves and ¼ teaspoon of ground nutmeg.

But don't forget that this recipe only requires just ½ a teaspoon.

Equipment

You will need a large pyrex dish - mine is 24cmx20cm

How to make pastitsio

Pastitsio is surprisingly easy to make - start by making the meat sauce. Put a large pan over medium-high heat and add the olive oil and the chopped onions.

Cook whilst stirring for about 8 minutes until they are soft but not coloured.

Add the garlic, and tomato puree and cook for another minute before adding the beef.

Be sure to break up the meat well - a wooden spoon works best, and brown it for about 5 minutes.

Pour in the red wine and wait for it to evaporate almost completely - otherwise, your finished sauce will taste bitter.

Add the tin of tomatoes, sugar, cinnamon, oregano and the bay leaf and season.

Bring to a boil, turn the heat down and simmer for about 30 minutes, until most of the juices have evaporated.

Once the meat sauce is cooked, discard the bay leaf and make the béchamel sauce.

Now cook the bucatini pasta in salted water for 2 minutes less than the package instructions, so that it doesn't go mushy after being in the oven.

Add half of the pasta to your dish followed by the meat sauce.

Now add the rest of the pasta on top of the meat sauce.

Now make the béchamel sauce and once it's cooked pour it over the top and sprinkle with a little nutmeg.

Cover with foil for the first 30 minutes of cooking. Then remove the foil and return to the oven for a further 10 minutes or so until the top is lovely and light golden brown.

Top Tips for Presentation

If you want your pastitsio to keep a nice shape for the presentation, leave it for about 25 minutes to cool down before cutting.

The best bet is to let it cool completely and when you're ready to serve cut it into slices and reheat it in the microwave, so pastitsio is the perfect dinner party dish.

What do you serve with pastitsio?

As with moussaka, a nice Greek salad is perfect, like the one in my moussaka recipe.

Have you tried this recipe? Please leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ star rating in the recipe card below!

Greek pastitsio, Greek pasta bake, pastitsio noodles, bucatini pasta, pasta bake

main, dinner, pasta

Greek

Yield: 4-6

Author: Jan Bennett

Pastitsio - Greek Pasta Bake

A delicious pasta dish that you'll want to make again and again!

Prep time: 20 MinCook time: 1 H & 30 MTotal time: 1 H & 50 M

Ingredients

You will need a large dish for this - mine is 24cmx20cm

• 400g Bucatini pasta - you can use penne
• a little olive oil
• 500g lean ground beef (5% fat)
• 1 large brown onion - finely chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic - finely chopped
• 1 tbsp tomato puree (paste in the US)
• 100ml red wine
• 1 x 400g good quality tin of chopped tomatoes
• 1 tsp sugar
• ½ tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• ½ tsp allspice
• 1 bay leaf leaf
• a pinch of sea salt and a pinch of freshly ground black pepper (to taste)

For the béchamel

• 50g butter
• 4 tbsp plain flour
• 450ml whole milk - heated
• a good-sized handful of Kefalotyri or Parmigiano-Reggiano
• ½ tsp salt - to taste
• 1 egg (yolk only)
• a pinch of nutmeg

Instructions

Start with the meat sauce

1. Put a large pan over medium-high heat and add the olive oil and the chopped onions
2. Cook whilst stirring for about 15 minutes until they are soft but not coloured.
3. Add the garlic, and tomato puree and cook for another minute before adding in the beef.
4. Be sure to break up the meat well - a wooden spoon works best, and brown for about 5 minutes.
5. Pour in the red wine and wait for it to evaporate almost completely - otherwise, your finished sauce will taste bitter.
6. Add the tin of tomatoes, sugar, cinnamon, oregano, allspice and the bay leaf and season.
7. Bring to a boil, then turn the heat down to a simmer for about 30 minutes, until most of the juices have evaporated.
8. Once the meat sauce is cooked, discard the bay leaf and make the béchamel sauce.

To make the béchamel

1. Heat the milk in a small saucepan until it is just about to boil, then remove from the heat.
2. Now, in a larger saucepan melt the butter over medium-low heat, stir in the flour with a wooden spoon and cook the mixture while stirring for a couple of minutes.
3. Now take it off the heat add the hot milk and the salt and whisk using a balloon whisk.
4. Add the parmesan and have a taste, add more salt if you think it needs it - without any salt, it will taste bland.
5. Let the mixture cool before adding the egg yolk keep whisking until it turns into this lovely smooth sauce.
6. *If you don't let it cool first the egg will scramble!*
7. Mix in the ground nutmeg.
8. Pour the sauce over the top of your pastitsio and top with a little more parmesan and a little sprinkling of nutmeg.

To assemble the pastitsio

1. Cook the pasta for the pastitsio 2 minutes less than the package instructions, so it doesn't later go mushy after being in the oven.
2. Butter the bottom and sides of a baking dish and assemble the pastitsio. Layer half of the pasta, and top with the meat sauce.
3. Add the rest of the pasta and top the pastitsio with the bechamel sauce.
4. Sprinkle with a little more parmesan and cover with foil.
5. Bake in a preheated oven at 200°C (400°F) fan oven for about 30 minutes and then remove the foil.
6. Now, pop it back into the oven and cook for a further 10 minutes by which time the top should have turned a lovely light golden brown colour.
7. Let the pastitsio cool down for a little while before serving.

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