Cheesy Pastitsio

Submitted by Michelle Berteig

"This is a very good recipe, my family really likes it. It's from a 1980 edition of Better Homes and Gardens All-TIme Favorite Hamburger and Ground Meat Recipes cookbook. Typed here for future reference, as I am always misplacing the cookbook! I usually double the bechamel sauce, since we like it that way."

 

• Ready In: 1hr 15mins
• Ingredients: 16
• Serves: 6

ingredients

• 170.09 g elbow macaroni (1 1/2 cups)
• 1 egg, beaten
• 78.78 ml parmesan cheese, grated
• 59.14 ml milk
• 453.59 g ground lamb or 453.59 g ground beef
• 118.29 ml chopped onion
• 226.79 g tomato sauce
• 2.46 ml cinnamon
• 0.61 ml nutmeg
• 44.37 ml butter or 44.37 ml margarine
• 44.37 ml flour
• 354.88 ml milk
• 1 egg, beaten
• 59.14 ml parmesan cheese, grated
• salt
• pepper

directions

1. For the pasta, cook macaroni until just done, drain. Add one beaten egg, 1/3 cup parmesan cheese and 1/4 cup milk. Mix and set aside.
2. For the meat sauce, cook the meat and onion in a skillet until the meat is brown, drain off the fat. Add tomato sauce, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.
3. For the sauce, melt the butter or margarine in a saucepan. Add in flour and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Add the milk slowly and cook and stir until thickened. Remove from heat and stir a small amount of the hot mixture into one beaten egg, return that mixture to the rest of the sauce in the pan. Add the 1/4 cup of parmesan cheese.
4. To assemble, put half the macaroni into an 8 x 8 inch square pan. Add the meat sauce next, then the rest of the macaroni on top of that. Add the sauce over all. Bake at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Reviews

[Jostlori]

Very, very nice! This is almost exactly like my old family recipe, with a perfect blend of spices. I really love that it includes what in our estimation is a requirement - freshly grated nutmeg. I didn't find it needed additional béchamel sauce, as it's not supposed to be runny. It was perfect as written. Thanks so much for posting!

 

[Karen Elizabeth]

I halved the recipe, but kept the same amount of bechamel, I do love a creamy sauce! I adore nutmeg and cinnamon, the flavour and the delicate aroma, love the use of those spices in pastitsio. This was very easy to prepare, I made the meat sauce in advance and finsihed the actual dish quite quickly, making for a superb dinner. DH loved it and I note I was NOT given the leftovers for lunch, ha ha!!! Lovely recipe, made for ZWT9, Pink Panthers On The Prowl, thank you teammate!

 

[pammyowl]

We liked this! It couldn't have been simpler to make and I loved the cinnamon and nutmeg, although in my opinion the cinnamon flavor was a bit overpowering. I'd cut it by half. Made for ZWT9

 

[Genie H.]

I’ve used this recipe out of the original BH&G book for about 30 years and it’s still the easiest and best I’ve found. It easily doubles for a larger baking dish. I usually add just a touch more grated cheese (No such thing as too much cheese), along with a pinch of allspice, and a pinch of crushed red pepper.

 

[Slicey]

This was ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS. I didn't follow the recipe exactly, so I hope that I can recreate it! I had some ground lamb flavored with cumin and other spices from a local butcher that I needed to use. I took other reviewer's suggestion in doubling the bechamel, since I usually think pastitsio served in restaurants is too dry. I also usually think there is too much nutmeg for my tastes, so I adjusted accordingly. <br/><br/>I pretty much just halved the pasta, and kept the other ingredients as stated. I had between 1/2 and a full pound of lamb, and I wanted it moist so I stayed with the measurements of the other ingredients, using pumpkin pie spice in place of the nutmeg since I was out of the latter. I kept the nutmeg/cinnamon/pumpkin pie spice and salt & pepper to a minimun because my lamb was already flavored. <br/><br/>It was delicious. I think I ate half the pan in one sitting, and I usually don't like pastitsio or any lamb dish. I can't wait to get more ground lamb from my butcher's "surprise" box so that I can make this again!