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[Harper's Kitchen] Finally, an easy pastitsio recipe!
Some of you know that over the years I have searched for the perfect pastitsio. It's brought me joy, pain, frustration, and at least one love of my life.
I love pastitsio, which is sort of like lasagne, only with penne pasta (not lasagne sheets) and differently spiced meat. It's basically a Greek pasta and meat casserole.
Over the past six years, I've probably made pastitsio only five or six times. Part of that is because I was busily searching for a recipe that didn't take forever to make but still tasted good. The other part, of course, is that I'm just not in the mood for that sort of dish every day.
For some reason, I decided over the weekend that I had to have some pastitsio, so I did the usual Internet recipe search and found the usual recipes. I don't know why everything seemed to come together this time and seem so easy; maybe it's my evolution as a cook, or maybe I've only made the stuff when I've felt deeply whiny before: who knows? ;-)
Anyway, pastitsio must have the following things:
pasta (duh)
meat spiced with mint and herbs and possibly nutmeg
bechamel sauce
It comes out differently every time. Here's how I did it today. I got this recipe from Razzle Dazzle Recipes, but you never know how long these things will stay up, so I'm going to reprint it below the cut tag for your cooking pleasure.
Athens Market Café's Pastitsio
8 to 10 servings
MEAT
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 large Spanish onion, chopped
1-1/2 pounds lean ground beef
1/4 cup white wine (I left this out)
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
1 tablespoon minced fresh mint leaves
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/3 cup water
1 tablespoon tomato paste
PASTA
1 tablespoon salt
1 pound penne pasta
2 tablespoons butter
2 egg whites
1 cup grated kefalograviera cheese (see note) (I used Parmesan)
BECHAMEL SAUCE
1/4 cup butter
4 tablespoons flour
3 cups scalded milk
2 egg yolks, beaten
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
Salt and pepper, to taste
TOPPING
3 tablespoons fine bread crumbs
To prepare the meat: Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a large skillet. Add the onion and saute until light brown. Add the meat and cook, stirring and breaking it up with a wooden spoon, until meat is browned and all liquid has evaporated.
Add the wine, parsley, mint, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper and allspice and mix well. Turn off the fire, cover and let stand for 5 minutes.
Combine water and tomato paste and stir into beef mixture. Bring to a boil and let simmer 15 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
To prepare pasta: Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add 1 tablespoon salt. Add pasta and cook, stirring occasionally, until pasta is tender.
Remove pasta from heat, strain and rinse under cold water. In the pot the pasta was cooked in, melt 2 tablespoons butter. Toss in the pasta and stir. Whip egg whites with an electric mixer until stiff (It takes about 3 minutes to do this with a wisk: don't bother with the mixer). Pour them over pasta and sprinkle with grated kefalograviera cheese. Mix well.
To prepare bechamel sauce: Melt 1/4 cup butter in a large saucepan. Stir in flour and cook over low heat for 4 minutes, stirring constantly. Do not brown. Pour in warm milk slowly while stirring. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until sauce comes to a boil and thickens. Turn off heat and stir in beaten egg yolks with a whisk. Add nutmeg and salt and pepper to taste.
To assemble: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-by-13-by-2-inch baking dish. Place half the pasta in the pan, distributing evenly. Top with all of the meat, then the rest of the pasta. Pour the bechamel sauce evenly over the casserole. Sprinkle with bread crumbs. Bake for 45 minutes, or until the top is golden brown.
Note: Kefalogravieria cheese, a Greek sheep's milk cheese, Kasseri cheese can be substituted. Some pastitsio recipes suggest parmesan cheese as a substitute, but the result would be less authentic.
Even with the inauthentic cheese, it came out really well. I think this one's a keeper!
And although I'm sitting here telling you this was an easy thing to cook, please be aware that you need several dishes and pots on hand and available to make this kind of food. I know some of you know this already, but the first time I tried to prepare a dish like this and had to juggle half a dozen pre-prepared ingredients, three cooking pots, and a host of mixing and stirring implements, it took hours and I was a bigger wreck than after I baked my first pound cake as a teenager!
Make sure you do everything in stages. I tend to assemble the whole pasta dish and put all the cooking pots away to be washed before I even start the bechamel sauce. Bechamel sauce, like most roux-based sauces, must be watched and stirred constantly, and trying to do that while balancing a bunch of other stuff is an accident waiting to happen. Nothing is quite as gross as a scorched sauce, ugh! Also, if you leave it after cooking, it will get very thick and be difficult to spread. You want your pasta in place before you make the sauce, trust me.
Don't use ground nutmeg. Don't even use a nutmeg mill. Get whole nutmeg and a parmesan cheese grater with a handle, and grate it yourself. Also, don't ever ingest large quantities of nutmeg. Trust me on this. No matter how nice it smells.
I love pastitsio, which is sort of like lasagne, only with penne pasta (not lasagne sheets) and differently spiced meat. It's basically a Greek pasta and meat casserole.
Over the past six years, I've probably made pastitsio only five or six times. Part of that is because I was busily searching for a recipe that didn't take forever to make but still tasted good. The other part, of course, is that I'm just not in the mood for that sort of dish every day.
For some reason, I decided over the weekend that I had to have some pastitsio, so I did the usual Internet recipe search and found the usual recipes. I don't know why everything seemed to come together this time and seem so easy; maybe it's my evolution as a cook, or maybe I've only made the stuff when I've felt deeply whiny before: who knows? ;-)
Anyway, pastitsio must have the following things:
It comes out differently every time. Here's how I did it today. I got this recipe from Razzle Dazzle Recipes, but you never know how long these things will stay up, so I'm going to reprint it below the cut tag for your cooking pleasure.
Athens Market Café's Pastitsio
8 to 10 servings
MEAT
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 large Spanish onion, chopped
1-1/2 pounds lean ground beef
1/4 cup white wine (I left this out)
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
1 tablespoon minced fresh mint leaves
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/3 cup water
1 tablespoon tomato paste
PASTA
1 tablespoon salt
1 pound penne pasta
2 tablespoons butter
2 egg whites
1 cup grated kefalograviera cheese (see note) (I used Parmesan)
BECHAMEL SAUCE
1/4 cup butter
4 tablespoons flour
3 cups scalded milk
2 egg yolks, beaten
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
Salt and pepper, to taste
TOPPING
3 tablespoons fine bread crumbs
To prepare the meat: Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a large skillet. Add the onion and saute until light brown. Add the meat and cook, stirring and breaking it up with a wooden spoon, until meat is browned and all liquid has evaporated.
Add the wine, parsley, mint, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper and allspice and mix well. Turn off the fire, cover and let stand for 5 minutes.
Combine water and tomato paste and stir into beef mixture. Bring to a boil and let simmer 15 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
To prepare pasta: Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add 1 tablespoon salt. Add pasta and cook, stirring occasionally, until pasta is tender.
Remove pasta from heat, strain and rinse under cold water. In the pot the pasta was cooked in, melt 2 tablespoons butter. Toss in the pasta and stir. Whip egg whites with an electric mixer until stiff (It takes about 3 minutes to do this with a wisk: don't bother with the mixer). Pour them over pasta and sprinkle with grated kefalograviera cheese. Mix well.
To prepare bechamel sauce: Melt 1/4 cup butter in a large saucepan. Stir in flour and cook over low heat for 4 minutes, stirring constantly. Do not brown. Pour in warm milk slowly while stirring. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until sauce comes to a boil and thickens. Turn off heat and stir in beaten egg yolks with a whisk. Add nutmeg and salt and pepper to taste.
To assemble: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-by-13-by-2-inch baking dish. Place half the pasta in the pan, distributing evenly. Top with all of the meat, then the rest of the pasta. Pour the bechamel sauce evenly over the casserole. Sprinkle with bread crumbs. Bake for 45 minutes, or until the top is golden brown.
Note: Kefalogravieria cheese, a Greek sheep's milk cheese, Kasseri cheese can be substituted. Some pastitsio recipes suggest parmesan cheese as a substitute, but the result would be less authentic.
Even with the inauthentic cheese, it came out really well. I think this one's a keeper!
And although I'm sitting here telling you this was an easy thing to cook, please be aware that you need several dishes and pots on hand and available to make this kind of food. I know some of you know this already, but the first time I tried to prepare a dish like this and had to juggle half a dozen pre-prepared ingredients, three cooking pots, and a host of mixing and stirring implements, it took hours and I was a bigger wreck than after I baked my first pound cake as a teenager!
Make sure you do everything in stages. I tend to assemble the whole pasta dish and put all the cooking pots away to be washed before I even start the bechamel sauce. Bechamel sauce, like most roux-based sauces, must be watched and stirred constantly, and trying to do that while balancing a bunch of other stuff is an accident waiting to happen. Nothing is quite as gross as a scorched sauce, ugh! Also, if you leave it after cooking, it will get very thick and be difficult to spread. You want your pasta in place before you make the sauce, trust me.
Don't use ground nutmeg. Don't even use a nutmeg mill. Get whole nutmeg and a parmesan cheese grater with a handle, and grate it yourself. Also, don't ever ingest large quantities of nutmeg. Trust me on this. No matter how nice it smells.