Greece Recipe (Week 4) Mama Rosie’s Pastitsio

It’s going to be hard for me not to get gushy in this post because pastitsio is my all-time favorite Greek recipe. As I’ve mentioned before I am part Greek and grew up going to Greek Town in Chicago and to various Greek restaurants for my birthday and other special occasions. On those occasions I always ordered this dish. Every single time. I think once or twice I ordered a combo platter but it included pastitsio.

You can think of pastitsio as a Greek version of lasagna because it is made up of layers of pasta, tomato sauce and cheese. The flavor of this dish, however, is quite different. It includes a blend of spices such as cinnamon and nutmeg and is topped with a bechamel (creamy white) sauce.

This is definitely a recipe that kids won’t be able to make on their own but can certainly help with. It is fun to make with a friend, which is what I did! My Greek friend Estelle kindly gave me her Mama Rosie’s Pastitsio Recipe and came over to show me how to assemble this wonderful dish. Thank you for passing on the tradition Estelle!

Ingredients for Mama Rosie’s Pastitsio

• 2 lbs ground beef
• 1 chopped onion
• 1 – 2 Tbsp fresh parsley
• 1 clove minced garlic
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1 1/2 cups tomato puree
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 1 stick butter + a little more for final step
• salt & pepper
• 1 1/2 lbs tube pasta such as ziti or macaroni
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 1/4 – 1/2 cup grated parmesan or kefalotiri cheese
• 4 cups bechamel sauce

Instructions

Sautee the ground beef; drain off fat. Then add onion and garlic until softened. Add parsley, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt & pepper; then wine and tomato puree. Simmer for half an hour, then set aside.

Meanwhile, boil pasta until al dente. After draining, add 1 stick of butter, beaten eggs and parmesan. Mix well.

Spread half of pasta mixture on the bottom of a greased (9 x 12 x 2 – I used a slightly larger) pan. Cover evenly with meat mixture; sprinkle with parmesan, and add another layer of pasta. Pour the bechamel sauce over the entire layer of pasta, then sprinkly lavishly with parmesan cheese. Dot with butter and sprinkle delicately with cinnamon.

Bake at 350° for 1 hour. Cool & cut into squares. Opa!!!

To find out the tradition behind Opa! and to read the rest of my Greece series check out these posts:

Greece | Country (Week 1)
Greece Interview (Week 2)
Greece Craft (Week 3) Trojan Horse
Mini Trojan Horse Library (Special Edition)

Featured Photo Pastitsio by Robert Kindermann is licensed under CC by BY-SA 2.5