Perfect Pastitsio (Vegetarian)

Kumquat the Cat's friend's Note:

Posted for Zaar World Tour 2005. Have never eaten Pastitsio (a traditional Greek dish) before and was grateful to have found one I could eat. This looks like a great one-dish meal, and takes less time to make than you might expect. It's described as a great party dish, and leftovers can be reheated and eaten a day or two later. From Vegetarian Times Cooks Mediterranean. Have not tried this recipe yet. Update: Tried this the other night. It makes a lot of food, but leftovers are quite good! Mine didn't turn out too dry with 1 cup of tomato sauce, but do add more tomato sauce or fresh tomatoes if you wish.

• Total Time: 1 hrs 15 mins
• Prep Time: 35 mins
• Cook Time: 40 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 8

Meat Substitute Mixture

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 large onion, minced
• 2 (14 ounce) packages vegetarian ground beef
• 1 1/2 cups tomato sauce, canned
• 1/2 cup dry red wine
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg or 1/8 teaspoon allspice
• salt & freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Pasta or Cheese mixture

• 1 lb ziti pasta or 1 lb elbow macaroni
• 5 cups milk
• 5 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 cup freshly grated kefalotiri (separated) or 1 cup parmesan cheese (separated)
• 3 large eggs

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 Fahrenheit.
2. In large skillet, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add onion and cook, stirring, until golden brown, about 7 minutes.
3. Add beef substitute, chopping into small bits. Cook until browned, about 5 minutes.
4. Add tomato sauce, red wine and spice, stirring to mix.
5. Simmer, uncovered, until the excess moisture has evaporated, about 7 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and set aside.
6. Meanwhile, cook the pasta according to package directions, drain and set aside.
7. In large saucepan, bring milk to a boil over high heat, then reduce heat to medium.
8. Dissolve the cornstarch in water, then add to milk in a thin stream, whisking constantly to avoid lumps.
9. Cook, whisking, until mixture has returned to a boil and is thickened, 2-3 minutes. Remove pan from heat and stir in 3/4 cup of the cheese.
10. In separate bowl, beat eggs until light and very frothy. Add to cheese sauce in a thin stream, whisking constantly. Add salt and pepper to taste and combine with cooked pasta in a large bowl.
11. Lightly oil an 11x15x2 inch casserole dish. Spoon in half the pasta/cheese mixture. Top with meat substitute mixture, then with remaining pasta/cheese mixture. Sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup cheese.
12. Bake until casserole is golden brown and bubbling, about 40 minutes. Let cool for a few minutes before slicing and serving.

Reviews

[Um Safia]

Made & reviewed for ZWT 4 ~ Kumquat's Kookin' Kaboodles! This pastitsio is seriously good. I used stock & a little lemon juice instead of wine & Quorn mince. This recipe is perfect for a vegetarian feast & will be added to my special cookbook ;) Thanks Heather for another super recipe! :)

[AmeliaW]

This was a lot of work for an okay dinner - I found it a bit bland. I added a spinach, green peppers and carrots to my meat substitute mix. I also used TVP which you have to reconstitute with boiling water and you can skip the browning step just throw it in with the tomato sauce.

[Mizzy]

this was very tasty and not too heavy despite the ingredients. i used veggie crumbles which have a close resemblence to real meat. i made slight changes though, doubling the amount of tomato suace because the filling was very dry. i also made a traditional white sauce with flour instead of corn starch. thanks for posting!