Sue's Recipes and Other Stories

Pastitsio (8-10)

Ingredients

500g tubular pastasuch as rigatoni, tubetti or tortiglioni
2 free range eggslightly beaten
50g Greek kefalotiri cheese or parmesan cheesefinely grated
2tbsp melted butter
10g fresh white breadcrumbs
For the white sauce:
115g butter
115g plain flour
1.2litres full-cream milkplus a little extra
1/2tsp freshly grated nutmeg
For the meat sauce:
4tbsp olive oil
1 medium onionpeeled and finely chopped
4 plump garlic clovespeeled and finely chopped
2 celery sticksfinely chopped
1kg lean minced beef
200ml red wine
1x 400g can of chopped tomatoes
2tbsp tomato puree
10cm piece of cinnamon stick
1/4tsp ground cloves
1tbsp dried oreganoGreek if possible
2tbsp fresh chopped oregano
3 fresh bay leaves
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

For the meat sauce, heat the olive oil in a medium-sized pan, add the onion, garlic and celery and fry until just beginning to brown. Add the minced beef and fry over a high heat for 3-4 minutes, breaking up any lumps with the wooden spoon as it browns.
Add the red wine, tomatoes, tomato purée, cinnamon stick, ground cloves, dried and fresh oregano, bay leaves, 100ml water, 1½ teaspoons salt and some black pepper, and simmer for 30-40 minutes, stirring now and then, until the sauce has thickened but is still nicely moist. Remove and discard the cinnamon stick and bay leaves
Bring 4.5 litres water to the boil in a large saucepan with 8 teaspoons salt. Add the pasta and cook until al dente – about 13 minutes. Be careful not to overcook as it will cook a little further in the oven. Drain well, transfer to a large bowl and leave to cool slightly.
For the white sauce, melt the butter in a medium-sized non-stick saucepan, add the flour and cook, stirring, over a medium heat, for 1 minute. Gradually beat in the milk, then bring to the boil, stirring, lower the heat and leave to simmer for 5-7 minutes, stirring occasionally. Season with the nutmeg and some salt and pepper to taste.
Preheat the oven to 180°C/Gas Mark 4. Stir 250ml (about one-fifth) of the white sauce into the warm pasta with the beaten eggs and half the grated cheese. Keep the remaining sauce warm over a low heat, stirring now and then and adding more milk if it begins to get a little thick.
Use the melted butter to grease a large, shallow ovenproof dish that measures about 23 x 33 cm across and 7 cm deep. Spread one-third of the pasta over the base of the dish and cover with half the meat sauce.
Add another third of the pasta and then the rest of the meat sauce, then cover with a final layer of pasta. Spoon over the remaining white sauce. Mix the remaining grated cheese with the breadcrumbs and sprinkle them over the top. Bake for 40 minutes until bubbling hot and golden brown.

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