Vegetarian Pastitsio

This is a delicious recipe, my husband is a reluctant vegetarian and I made this on a Monday and we feasted on it for days. I added some soy protein crumbles and recommend digging out little pockets for the custard. This is a wonderful meal for chilly winter days.

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In honour of my son who just announced he is now a vegetarian, I decided to incorporate several meatless meals into my diet. I just finished eating this and oh boy, was it ever good! I made it exactly as written with only one change, I ran out of parmesan cheese for the final layer so I substituted a little motzerella. Two things that make this dish stand out for me is the cinnamon flavour and the custard part. Really gives it a nice texture. (I couldn't find brown lentils so I used green and not being familiar with lentils it seemed to turn out just fine)

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I love this! When in Greece I'll often have the meat version but it crossed my mind that it could easily become veggie and I sought out a veggie recipe. (I am a sucker for lentils). I swapped the aubergine (eggplant) for courgette (zucchini) one time when I was feeding a friend who can't abide aubergine. I use 3 or 4 medium sized onions, diced. I use 2x14oz tins of chopped tomatoes in their juice. I am also able to get spaghetti length macaroni tubes and feel this made for an authentic touch. A greek cypriot friend told me that you should straighten out the long macroni before you lay it in the dish (she doesn't, she admits, and she now uses penne pasta). I have to say that I don't agree with the comment about serving it very hot - it should really sit for at least 20 minutes before serving to have a hope of holding together in a taverna-like slab. Bear in mind, too, that in Greece food is never served very hot (it is considered to be bad for your health, I think). This dish gets even better served on the second day. I try to make sure I have some left to take for lunch to work or to freeze. Thanks for sharing. ps - I've now made this for the third time . . . a true definition of a recipe that is a real "keeper".

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Fantastically flavoursome! I followed TasteTester's advice and made this two days ago to share with friends for lunch today. None of us are vegetarian but we all agreed that this is arecipe that would appeal to vegetarians and non-vegetarians alike. So a really useful recipe for when you are serving both! I was tired when I made this, so I followed the recipe exactly! And I'm so glad that I did as I woudn't want to change a thing when making this again. Except for doubling it so that there are more portions to put in the freezer. We enjoyed this with salad greens and crispy rolls and champagne. Thank you, Engrossed, for another superb recipe!

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Wow! This recipe is a winner. I made it the other day and even our non-vegetarian friends loved it. The lentils give it a sort of "meaty" taste and texture. I would suggest that if making this you prepare it ahead of time, because it does take quite a bit of time to prepare, but it's worth it. And this is one of those recipes that tastes even better the next day! (I had some leftover for lunch.) I tried using a 9x13-inch baking dish as stated, but it was overflowing the dish even before adding the custard. It fit perfectly into a 15x11/2-in dish however. I'm so glad I tried this recipe, Engrossed. It's terrific.

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I really liked this dish. It was filling, and although I was skeptical about adding cinnamon, it really tasted great in the end. Next time I'd definitely add more lentils and less pasta though- just a personal preference. Thanks for sharing!

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i know it is bad form to review a recipe before you have eaten it, but i just have too. So far I am just at the sauce stage, and boy is it amazing. My fave recipes are always the ones that are a good base, so it can be altered as needed. My house smells divine. I used mace and garam masala instead of cinnamom. So delicious. The other great thing is that just by switching up the spices. I can make this mexican, italian, or just whatever. I am thinking of layering polenta and sauce. Either way. Thanks

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I so love this actually my whole family does, meat eaters and all. It is very time consuming and you really need to put this in a lasagna pan or make two pans like one review states. We ended up freezing some one time and it seemed to dry out but we topped with spaghetti sauce which helped.

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I am not going to star this because my family does not like lentils much, so I am sure that influenced their opinion of this. So if you are making this, make sure your family likes them, or you will have a ton of it leftover like I do and will be forcing them to eat it for lunch for the next week. I didn't think it was too bad, and the flavors were good, but everyone else complained.

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I love Anna Thomas! (Vegetarian Epicure author). Her recipes always turn out beautifully. If you are starting with dry lentils use 3/4 cup (per the cookbook) for the right quantity. Also be sure to under cook the macaroni, as this casserole bakes in the oven for an hour once assembled. I would only cook it 2-3 minutes next time (I did it 4 minutes this time). This recipe makes A LOT of food. It was spilling out of the 13 x 9" dish so I made two casseroles. Next time I will cut this in half. But it will definitely be made again. Thank you [Made for Zaar Cookbook Tag]

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