Traditional Greek Pastitsio Recipe (Greek Lasagna)
Serves 8
15 mins prep
105 mins cook
120 mins total
This delicious dish has a meat sauce made with warming spices, layers of pasta, and creamy bechamel.
Meatsauce
Bechamel
Pasta
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Make the meatsauce
Add olive oil to a large pot over medium-high heat. Add onion, carrot and celery and cook until softened, about 4-5 minutes.
Stir in the ground beef, stirring occasionally to break up the meat and cook for about 10-12 minutes until cooked through.
Pour in the red wine to deglaze the pan. Cook it for a few minutes until most of the wine has evaporated.
Stir in the garlic, spices (salt, pepper, cinnamon, cloves, dried basil, all spice) and bay leaves until incorporated. Next stir in the diced or whole tomatoes (if using whole tomatoes crush them up a bit when added to the pot), sugar, tomato paste and water and bring to a boil. Once simmering, turn the heat to medium-low and let simmer with the lid on until the sauce has cooked down and most of the liquid has evaporated. Set aside.
Make the bechamel
Whisk the 4 eggs together in a bowl and set aside.
Make the bechamel by adding butter to a medium frying pan or pot over medium-low heat. When the butter is melted, add the flour and whisk constantly until a paste forms.
Stir in the milk in 1/2 cup increments, whisking constantly after each addition to make sure the sauce doesn’t get lumpy. Continue whisking and add in salt, pepper and nutmeg. Whisk in the shredded cheese until combined.
Remove the pan from the heat and stir in whisked eggs, whisking quickly to combine and make sure the eggs don't get lumpy. Put back on low heat for about 30 seconds to 1 minute, continue whisking – the sauce should be smooth and sort of consistency of a cheese sauce. Set aside.
Pasta
When the meatsauce and bechamel are ready, cook the pasta to al dente and set aside.
Assemble and bake
Preheat the oven to 350F.
Place the pasta in a 9x13 baking dish, arranging the noodles facing the same way as best you can and making the layer as level as you can.
Add the meat sauce as the next layer and smooth out the top of the surface.
Pour the bechamel sauce over the meat sauce layer and gently smooth out the top of the surface.
Bake for 30-40 minutes or until the crust is golden brown. You can always broil on low towards the end of the baking time to help the crust turn golden.
Let the pasta bake cool for at least 15 minutes and up to 30 minutes before cutting and serving.
