Pastitsio

Growing up, this was one of my favorite meals. When my mother made this there were many happy faces, not to mention bellies, at my house.

This is a variation on the famous Greek Moussaka. Instead of vegetables you use pasta.

Start with your favorite version of meat sauce. I use my Bolognese.

Prepare some of your favorite large cylindrical shaped pasta. I use Rigatoni, Penne or Bucatini.

Oil the bottom of an oven dish and spread half of your cooked pasta to form a layer on the bottom of your dish. Sprinkle a good amount of grated cheese over the pasta. a salty Romano or Parmegiano is good here although the authentic Greek recipe calls for Mitzithra ( a hard version of Ricotta). Pour the meat sauce over the pasta to form a layer of sauce then spread the remaining pasta and sprinkle some more cheese.

Now for the tricky part. What makes or brakes this recipe is the Bechamel sauce that goes over the last layer of pasta.

I prepared this for a large oven dish so adjust the ingredients to fit yours. Start by melting some 1/2 cup butter over a medium-high heat. Add 1/2 cup flour and stir rapidly until all the flour is smoothly mixed (this is called a roux). Continue to cook the roux for a minute or so but don't allow it to brown. Add 2 litres of whole milk and bring to a boil over medium heat stirring constantly to prevent the milk from burning. It will thicken to a custard consistency. If after reaching a boil it is still not thick enough prepare some more roux and add it to the milk until it thickens.

Separate the yolks and whites of 6 eggs. Lightly beat the yolks. In the container with the yolks add about 2 ladles full of the hot custard mixture and incorporate with the eggs. (This is called tempering the eggs. It prevents the eggs from turning into scrambled eggs when you put the in the hot custard). Add the yolks to the custard and mix. Remove from the heat. Add some salt and pepper and some grated cheese. Beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. Pour the whites into the custard and fold them in (do not mix rapidly) until incorporated. You now have Bechamel sauce. Pour the sauce over the last layer of pasta.

Put into a 400 degree oven for about an hour or until the surface is golden brown and a knife inserted into the sauce comes out clean.

Kali Orexi.

Enjoy!