Pastitsio: a Cheesy Love Affair with Greek Pasta

Serve up with colourful Wired oven gloves

Take your new Joanna Zenghelis oven gloves for a spin with this traditional Greek Pastitsio recipe – a family favourite that’s been passed down through the generations from my great grandmother. Hearty and full of flavour with a rich cheesy topping, it is totally delicious and will have you getting up for seconds. This recipe makes eight generous helpings and it tastes even better the next day.
Serves 8
Ingredients
2 white onions
Garlic
1kg lean ground beef
1 tbsp of vegetable shortening, like Nea Fytini (and if you can’t find it, butter will do)
2 tbsp tomato paste
250ml red wine
Cinnamon stick (or powder)
Ground nutmeg
3 bay leaves
Stock (vegetable or beef)
400g tinned chopped tomatoes
1 tsp sugar
500g long, hollow pasta (like mezzani or bucatini)
3 egg whites
2 egg yolks
200g feta
160g butter
160g plain flour
1.6 litres of whole milk
250g grated hard cheese (like Parmesan or Greek Kefalotiri or Graviera)

For the meat sauce
1. Fry two chopped onions over medium-high heat. When the onion has softened, add lots (the more the better) of chopped garlic and fry for two more minutes
2. Add one kilo of lean ground beef to the pan and keep stirring to help it brown all over. Season with salt and pepper. Keep cooking and stirring the meat until most of the liquid at the bottom of the pan has evaporated and the meat is almost “squeaky” when pushed around the pan.
3. At this point, I stir in a tablespoon of Nea Fytini for the flavour. This is a Greek vegetable shortening. If you can’t get hold of any, try stirring in some oil or butter and/or a couple of tablespoons of the bechamel sauce at the end. 
4. Stir in two tablespoons of tomato paste. Then add a large glass of red wine and allow the alcohol to cook off a little (you can add more wine later on if the sauce starts to look a bit dry).
5. Throw in a cinnamon stick (or half a teaspoon of ground cinnamon), a quarter of a teaspoon of ground nutmeg, and three bay leaves. Crumble in a cube of vegetable or beef stock and then add a 400g tin of chopped tomatoes and a teaspoon of sugar. Simmer on a low heat for an hour or more, the longer it cooks the tastier it will be

For the bechamel topping
1. Melt 160g butter in a large saucepan. 
2. Stir in the 160g flour.
3. Then, gradually whisk in 1.6 litres whole milk a little at a time until you have a smooth white sauce. Cook over a low-medium heat, stirring continuously until it thickens. Let it cool.
4. Whisk together 2 egg yolks and 1 egg white and add to the cooled sauce, stirring it in bit by bit. 
5. Add a bit of grated nutmeg, salt, pepper and a handful of grated cheese (at this point you can also add a couple of tablespoons of this bechamel sauce into the meat sauce for added creaminess).
For the pasta
1. Boil the pasta in salted water for 2 minutes less than packet instructions (the pasta will continue to cook when it goes in the oven). 
2. Drain the pasta and return it to the empty saucepan. 
3. Crumble in 200g of feta and stir in the whites of two large eggs. 
Assemble
1. Grease a roasting tin with oil or butter.
2. Spread out the pasta in the bottom of your greased roasting tin (don’t worry, this doesn’t have to be very neatly done). 
3. Then, pour over all of the meat sauce (taking out bay leaves and cinnamon stick if possible), creating as even a layer as possible. Try not to allow too much mixing of the layers.
4. Top with the white sauce and sprinkle over more grated cheese.

Bake for 45-50 mins at 180C until golden brown and bubbling. Let it stand for 30 mins before slicing and serving.