We celebrated Chris, my Brother-in-law’s Birthday today, with the family. As usual, Chris and his wife Gina put on an impressive meal. For me, the standout was Gina’s pasticcio. It looked amazing and tasted just as good. Pasticcio is a traditional Greek dish – like a pasta bake with bechamel sauce. Gina learned this recipe from her mother, but has been refining it. Today’s effort was perfect. The pasticcio held together nicely while being served, was still most without being oily, and you’ll notice in the photograph that you can see the layers quite clearly. After lunch I got her to share her pasticcio secrets with me.
This is a good dish when entertaining for larger numbers, and is usually a favourite with kids. You can prepare it well beforehand, and then bake or reheat it before serving. It also makes excellent lunch the next day. It’s not very difficult to make, but it will take some time and attention. I’ve divided it into steps, but clever kitchen managers (like experienced mothers) will probably be able to do more than one thing at a time.
This quantity will serve 8 people easily as a main dish, even more if it is part of more comprehensive meal.
1×500g box penne regate (Gina says the Barilla is best for this)
grated parmesan cheese
For the bechamel sauce:
1/2 block (125g) unsalted butter
1L milk (Gina uses low fat and it works out okay)
1 cup flour
3 eggs
For the meat sauce:
600g lean mince
1 large onion (diced)
2-3 cloves of garlic (crushed)
handful of chopped parsley
2tbsp tomato paste
1 tin crushed tomatoes
Step 1.
Boil the pasta until just cooked. Grease a large lasagne or baking dish and put in half the pasta. Set aside.
Step 2.
Make the mince sauce the usual way. In a saucepan soften the onion and garlic. Add the mince and brown. Add the tomato paste and tinned tomatoes and stir through. Simmer for a bit until it looks right, add salt, pepper to taste, and the chopped parsley. Take off the heat and set it aside.
Step 3 .
Here’s the tricky bit- the bechamel sauce. Melt the butter in a saucepan, and over a low heat add the flour very gradually, mixing with a wooden spoon. Add the milk gradually, while stirring. Gina recommends that you switch to a whisk as you add the milk. Be patient and make sure all the milk is stirred in before adding more, otherwise the sauce will be lumpy. This should take about 10-15 minutes to add the whole litre of milk. When the milk is fully combined, stir through the eggs, and season with salt and pepper. Remove from the heat and add a handful of parmesan.
Step 4.
Pour a few spoons of bechamel evenly over the pasta that is already in the dish. The idea is to have a little of the sauce between the penne so that this bottom layer holds together when you serve it. Spread the mince over the pasta in an even layer. Spread the remaining pasta on top of the mince. Pour the bechamel evenly over the whole lot. It’s important that hte bechamel goes all the way through and across this top layer of pasta, so give the dish a light shake, and Gina says to poke into the corners and edges with a fork to make sure the bechamel is properly distributed. Sprinkle the parmesan cheese on top.
Step 5.
Bake in a preheated oven at 180°C until the top is a nice golden brown and heated all the way through. Since all the ingredients are already cooked, there isn’t really a set time for this stage.
Slice into rectangles and serve. Make sure you separate the pasticcio from the dish at the edges before you try lifting out the pieces.
Tags: entertaining, Gina, Greek, kids, pasta, pasticcio, Recipes, savoury
