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Pastitsio (Greek Baked Pasta With Cinnamon and Tomatoes)
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- Total Time
- About 1 hour 45 minutes
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
- 2tablespoons olive oil
- 1medium red onion, finely chopped
- 2garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 2pounds ground lamb
- 1tablespoon roughly chopped fresh oregano
- 1tablespoon roughly chopped fresh thyme
- 2teaspoons ground cinnamon
- Kosher salt and black pepper
- 1(28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes
- 1(14-ounce) can diced tomatoes
- 2½cups whole milk
- 4tablespoons unsalted butter (½ stick)
- ¼cup all-purpose flour
- ¼teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- 1½cups grated Pecorino or Parmesan cheese
- 1pound ziti or penne pasta
Preparation
- Step 1
Make the sauce: In a large, deep skillet, heat the olive oil over medium. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, 1 minute.
- Step 2
Add the lamb, breaking up the meat with a spatula or wooden spoon, and cook until the moisture has evaporated and the meat is browned, 12 to 15 minutes. Stir in the oregano, thyme and cinnamon, and season with salt and pepper.
- Step 3
Stir in the crushed and diced tomatoes and their juices and bring to a simmer. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the flavors meld, 20 to 25 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper and set aside.
- Step 4
Heat the oven to 350 degrees and bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Start the béchamel: In a medium saucepan, bring the milk to a simmer over medium. Make the roux: In a small saucepan, melt the butter over medium-low. Whisk the flour into the butter until a smooth, golden paste forms, about 2 minutes. Gradually whisk the warmed milk into the roux and cook, stirring frequently, until the sauce is smooth and thick, about 3 to 5 minutes. Whisk in the nutmeg and 1 cup cheese, season with salt and pepper and set aside.
- Step 5
Once the water boils, cook the pasta according to package instructions until 2 minutes short of al dente (the pasta will finish cooking in the oven). Drain and transfer it to a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Drizzle with ½ cup béchamel and carefully stir in 2 cups meat sauce. Spoon the remaining meat sauce on top, then drizzle evenly with the remaining béchamel. Sprinkle with the remaining ½ cup cheese.
- Step 6
Place dish on a parchment-lined sheet pan and bake until the top is golden and begins to bubble, about 25 to 30 minutes. Allow the pasta to stand for 10 minutes before serving.
Private Notes
Cooking Notes
Oh the haters. I’ve been eating pastitsio my whole life. Both homemade and at countless restaurants. This recipe should be called “better than pastitsio”. Yiayias is usually dry and mostly bland. Go ahead and try this and recipe and enjoy.
My husband, who is from Greece said it was some of the best he has ever had. The noodles obviously weren’t the same as what they usually use for pastitsio but just as tasty. I will definitely make it again.
Man, there is a whole lotta authenticity-hate on this recipe. I grew up in a fresh-off-the-boat Greek family that made it exactly like this. Maybe because we were island people and beef was hard to get, lamb (which my island had in abundant supply) was definitely used. I now live nowhere near another Greek person, but I do have access to the softer pecorino and I agree that it's a fine substitute for kefalotyri. The harder pecorino that's more present in the U.S. would be rough on the palate.
Great recipe, but penne really can't be substituted for ziti and grated kefalotyri is a much better choice to finish the dish. Using penne and then parm for the finish gives it too much of an Italian profile, making the cinnamon seem out off-putting instead of at home.
This is a strange twist on the traditional recipe. First, it's unheard of to use ground lamb even in Greece where it is fresh. I'd be "afraid" to use ground lamb sourced in the US, lamb is already poor quality as it is and mostly shipped on the slow boat from Australia or New Zealand. Second, the pasta used is a thick tubular macaroni product, not penne or ziti. You can buy the real deal in Greek specialty shops or there are some Italian comparables that sometimes are sold in the supermarket
The ground lamb has an ENORMOUS amount of fat in it. I drained it after cooking and before adding the herbs and tomatoes and got around 3/4 of a cup of pure oil. Without draining this dish would be swimming in lamb fat and I don't think getting rid of it has any negative impact on the dish.
We never make this with lamb, only ground beef. No one in Greece makes this with lamb as far as I know (Thessaloniki/Macedonia/Thrace). Also the key is very very little tomato paste, it should be just enough to elevate the casserole with some acidity. The dish should be light and fluffy, and cut into rather firm slices ala frittata style, served at room temp or slightly warmed, and like any casserole better the next day.
I made this but I subbed beef for lamb, and cut back on the tomatoes. Also skipped the thyme and oregano, reduced the cinnamon and added nutmeg. Doubled the amount of bechamel and swapped in kefalotyri, and grated a little nutmeg here too. I used long tube pasta, not ziti, and when I put it in the pan, I layered it instead of stirring it all together. Amazing I made all those subs, and my husband confirms: it’s just like they make in Greece! :)
Tasty and filling. Real comfort food! On a personal note, to all the critics below, I'm a third generation Greek-Canadian, and at this point I have no idea what "authentic" Greek cooking is. All I can say is this tasted like home. Overall: Would make again.
I use kefalotyri when I make my version. Greek delis usually carry it.
The original pastitsio includes Spaggeti (number 2-3 size) some cheese and 2eggs. Pork/beef mince, fresh chopped tomato, 2-3 leaf’s of daphne, black pepper, onion, (garlic is not mandatory nor included), it gives strong flavor, parsley, olive oil and for the cream you need milk, some flour and some corn flour, eggs 1 or 2(depends size of pan), butter and nutmeg. We also add a layer of cheese on top of the mince and some inside the bechamel (local cheese with strong flavor, we call it kefalotiri
Don't listen to the haters. While not absolutely, purely, traditionally Greek, this is a very good recipe, and makes use of what you likely already have on hand. Tastes a lot like the pastitsio I ate at Alexis in Portland--one of the best Greek restaurants ever! I used less parmesan--probably just 1/3 cup in the bechamel.
This was absolutely delicious!! I halved the recipe and wished I hadn’t and used sananaki cheese not Parmesan. It went down a treat in my house. Highly recommend pastitsio or not!!
I have never had pastitsio that I can remember and I have no reference for the origin of this dish. No debate from me on the authenticity. However, to it's own right, it is a good dish. I did make a slight tweak, which most likely change the flavor profile that I ended up really liking. I didn't have crushed tomatoes and had a jar of Ajvar (a flavorful red pepper sauces) on hand so I used that instead. It really made the sauces pop.
The recipe is OK. But I'm more Greek than it is.
Tried this as an alternative way to jazz up leftover rare roast lamb, mixed with a bit of ground beef. It was ok, satisfying comfort food, but didn’t deliver enough of a flavor punch to make it worth the extra effort. I used elbow macaroni instead of large tubes because I had a surplus, but I doubt that made enough of a difference.
I enjoy trying different versions of this dish so I thought would try this one. It’s ok but a little bland. When I reheat it, I add more garlic powder and dried oregano which seems to help. But overall, there are better versions of this Greek dish available, such as from Diane Kochilas.
Absolutely amazing just as written. No improvements needed.
I made this as part of a Christmas gift for my parents. It turned out beautifully! They loved it. I don't care for lamb and I still found it to be delicious.
Delicious! I made with fuži instead of penne or ziti - but otherwise followed the recipe and it turned out great.
Sloppy, try recipe to make drier
At least in San Francisco, kefalotyri is available at Greek or Middle-Eastern delis, or at a specialty cheese shop.
You can buy the bucatini pasta for authentic pasticcio I'm Whole Foods. The brand is LOI which is the brand of Greek chef Maria Loi.
Whoa. Get ready for some real hating folks! I make mine with lentils and diced eggplant (Thanks Anna Thomas) instead of meat. And I throw a little wine in it, too. I am not a fan of lamb (which takes to these flavors so nicely, none the less), but sheesh, substitute something else, split it half and half. It's okay. It's a casserole. I like the strength of the herbs and spice in this version.
Made this with a friend - exactly as recipe stated except the friend doesn’t like lamb, so used beef. Friend, husband and I all agreed that it’s delicious; husband didn’t know the recipe called for lamb and volunteered that lamb would have been great. Whether it’s authentic or not, I recommend as a tasty dish.
My guests really liked this! I made with 2-1/2 pounds of ground beef and increased canned diced tomatoes from 14 oz. to 28 oz. (Be sure to drain beef before adding seasoning!) Couldn't find kefalotyri cheese, but pecorino was fine. I doubled the bechamel as suggested by another commenter, but that made too much. (my 9 X 13 pan is pretty deep but it wouldn't all fit.) I will do 1-1/2 the bechamel next time. This took close to 1-1/2 hours to get this ready to go in the oven .
Can this be made ahead and frozen?
I made this recipe yesterday. It was good but I was very disappointed in the taste of the spices. They were very mild, not like pastitsio that I've had in Greek restaurants. New time I will double the amount of the spices and it will be much better.
We made tons of pastitsio when we lived in Berkeley in the hippie-ish 1970s, and were devoted to the Anna Thomas Vegetarian Epicure books. Her version was made with lentils, so I never thought of it as a meat dish.
I googled suggestions for kefalotyri and found that graviera or kaserri cheeses are worthy. A nutty semi firm cheese will do.
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