Greek Pasta and Beef

yooper's Note:

Mac and cheese goes international with this Greek inspired dish. To make it even more authentic, you could substitute ground lamb for the beef.

• Total Time: 1 hrs 25 mins
• Prep Time: 25 mins
• Cook Time: 1 hrs

Ingredients:

Servings: 12

• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 large onion , chopped
• 1 clove garlic , minced
• 1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
• ½ cup water
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• ¼ teaspoon pepper
• 1 lb elbow macaroni , cooked and drained
• 1 egg , sligtly beaten
• ½ cup grated parmesan cheese

SAUCE

• ¼ cup butter or ¼ cup margarine
• ¼ cup all-purpose flour
• ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 3 cups milk
• 2 eggs , lightly beaten
• 1⁄3; cup grated parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. In a skillet, cook beef, onion, and garlic over medium heat until beef is no longer pink; drain.
2. Stir in tomato sauce, water and seasonings.
3. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionaly.
4. Meanwhile, in a bowl, combine macaroni, egg and Parmesan cheese; set aside.
5. In a large saucepan, melt butter, stir in flour and cinnamon until smooth.
6. Gradually add milk.
7. Bring to a boil over medium heat; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until slightly thickened.
8. Remove from the heat; cool slightly.
9. Stir a snall amount of hot mixture into eggs; return all to pan.
10. Cook and stir for 2 minutes.
11. Remove from the heat; stir in cheese.
12. In a greased 3-qt baking dish, spread half of the macaroni mixture.
13. Top with beef mixture and remaining macaroni mixture.
14. Pour sauce over the top.
15. Bake, uncovered at 350 for 45-50 minutes or until bubbly and heated through.
16. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Reviews

[canarygirl]

What a nice change of pace! The recipe was very easy to follow, and the dish easy to prepare (though it did make alot of dishes! ;) )I loved the flavors that the cinnamon and nutmeg gave the dish. I did add stock instead of water, as well as 1 tablespoon of tomato paste, as well as upped the garlic to 3 cloves and added about a teaspoon of oregano. My family and I really enjoyed this, and I will be making it again for sure! Thanks for a great recipe!

[JustJanS]

Yooper, I haven't made pastitso for years, thanks for the memory jolt. This was good, and I followed the recipe to the letter. I felt when I ate it though, that something was missing, so dug up my old recipe. It also had wine, tomato paste and stock, and I think that would deepen the flavour of the meat layer, other wise it was exactly the same. I would suggest that you would get 8 average servings out of the dish I cooked tonight, so watch that if your diners are average eaters.

[FCR Gal]

Made this for dinner tonight and it was a big hit with my DH. It is inexpensive to make using ingredients you always have on hand. I will have to agree that it did dirty a lot of dishes, but that won't stop me from making it again. We thought it had very good flavor and consistency. The only thing I was unsure about was the sauce. Is it a sauce or a crust? I baked it for 45-50 minutes as the recipe stated. The top was bubbly and heated through, but not like a crust. When I put a knife in it, the knife did not come out clean. Not sure what is correct. Nevertheless, we will make it again.