Pastitsio (macaroni pie)

GREEK PASTITSIO (Macaroni pie)

This recipe is for 16 people.

To make this dish use a large and deep pan with dimensions 31CH41CH6 cm.

Ingredients for the ground beef

1500 grams of lean ground beef

80 grams of olive oil

4 large, ripe tomatoes

Pepper and salt

1 medium dry onion

Ingredients for the white sauce (Bechamel)

2.5 liters of milk 3.5% fat

180 grams margarine

200 grams all purpose-flour

Ingredients for the basis of pastitsio

400 g spaghetti no 2

8 g. margarine

300 grams of grated cheese for pasta
Suitable cheeses are kefalotiri, the gruyere, the parmesan and generally all slireses.

Instructions

Pastitsio Base

Put water in a pot and place it over high heat.

When the water boils, put the pasta in the pot and stir.

Boil the pasta until tender but not over boiled.

Drain the pasta in a colander and drain it well.

Empty the pasta in the pan and put in it 8 g margarine and most of the grated cheese.

Stir well so the cheese goes all over the pasta.

Leave aside some cheese to spread it over the Bechamel sauce.

Spread the pasta evenly in the bottom of the pan.

The pasta forms the basis of pastitsio.

Heating the milk

Pour 2.5 liters of milk in a pot and put it over medium heat.

Heat the milk you are going to use for the sauce.

Wait until the milk warms up, do not let it boil.

Remove it from the heat before boiling and let it aside.

If it boils, it swells and it spills out.

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Cooking the meat
Clean the onion and chop it.

Place a saucepan over medium heat and put the olive oil in it.

Put the onion in the saucepan.

Stir occasionally, until the onion becomes soft and tender.

Add the ground beef in the onion and stir well. Add salt and pepper.

Reduce heat and let the meat to warm up and produce its fluids.

Stir often and break the lumps that are formed as the meat boils.

Press them with a fork and break them.

The meat begins to soften after 45 min.

Wash the tomatoes. Cut them in small pieces and put them in the blender.

Mince them and put them in the ground beef.

Stir occasionally the meat and let it to boil until its fluids are absorbed for their most part.

Empty the minced meat in the pan and spread it evenly over the base of pasta.

How to make the Bechamel sauce

Place a saucepan over low heat and pour in the margarine.

Stir until it melts.

Put in the melted margarine little by little the flour while stirring.

Cooke the flour until its color becomes light brown.

The flour burns easily so stand over the saucepan and stir continuously.

When the flour is ready, pour in the saucepan cup by cup all the hot milk.

Beat the cream with a hand blender and homogenize it.

Stop the blender and continue to stir the cream with spoon ladle.

The cream sticks to the saucepan very easily, so mix constantly.

If you understand that the crème is going to stick, reduce more the heat..

When it stars to boil, remove it from the heat.

When it is warm, empty it into the pan over the meat.

With a spatula spread the cream evenly throughout the pan.

Sprinkle grated cheese over the Bechamel sauce.

Put the pan in the oven on the middle rack.

Bake it at 200 C degrees for 45-50 minutes.

When the pastitsio is ready, it smells nicely and its surface takes beige color.

Take the pan out of the oven and leave it to cool.

If you try to cut the pastitsio while it's hot, it brakes.

It should stay out of the oven for at least two hours, before cutting it into pieces.

This is a large dose so make it only when you expect a big company.

Make half the dose if you are going to serve a small group of people.

You can make the entire dose, but divide it in two smaller pans.

Bake one immediately and the other one wrap it with foil and put it uncooked in the freezer.

When you want to bake it, remove it from the refrigerator 4 hours earlier to unfreeze.