Pastitsio

Baked macaroni and mince with bechamel sauce

Like any good house hold favourite, everyone has their own tricks, all hail…The Wooden Koutali’s Pastitsio. We are messy cooks, we don’t tend to measure, we free pour, taste and make sure it looks, feels and smells right. The beauty of cooking is that you can usually fix something by adding water, flower, salt, pepper, sometimes even a sprinkle of sugar.

Get ready for a crowd pleaser and a half…whether you don’t know what to cook for the kids and their 10 friends, want to impress the in-laws or even want to treat yo-self, give our pastitsio a go, and just remember if at first you don’t succeed, we are only an email or dm away!

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons of oil, but the best cooks don’t measure so pour in enough to give it that flavour
• 1 large onion
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 1kg mince
• ½ a cup of red wine or white dry wine
• 3 ripe tomatoes, pureed
• 1 tin of canned tomatoes
• 2 tablespoons of tomato paste
• 1 Cinnamon stick
• 3 bay leaves
• 1 level teaspoon of cumin
• ½ a teaspoon of ground cloves or nutmeg
• Mixed spice to taste
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 packet of spaghetti (any type of pasta works)
• 200g parmesan cheese
• YIAYA’S WEAPON

Bechamel Sauce

• 100g butter
• 3 tablespoons of flour
• 2 tablespoons of cornflour
• 1 litre milk
• ½ cup of tasty cheese, grated
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Extra parmesan cheese
• 4 egg yolks
• PAPOU’S POT STIRRER – Left or Right

Method

1. First things first, you’ll need a large saucepan, add olive oil and start heating. Add in chopped onion & garlic and sauté until they are soft and translucent
2. Increase heat to high, add mince, stir thoroughly and cook until the meat is browned
3. Keep stirring (don’t forget this part)
4. Reminder to always taste 😉
5. Add wine, reduce heat and continue cooking
6. Add pureed tomatoes, tomato paste, spices, herbs and a little splash of water allow it to simmer for around 30 minutes until most of the liquid is absorbed. Remove the cinnamon stick and bay leaves and discard them
7. Boil the macaroni in well salted water, wait until they are al dente and then strain well
8. Place the macaroni in a large baking dish and pour the mince over

• HOLD UP, DON’T FORGET YOUR: Bechamel sauce
  1. Melt butter in a saucepan
  2. Remove from the heat, add the flour and cornflour and return to low heat for 2-3 minutes
  3. Start stirring in the milk (remove from heat if the saucepan is getting too hot, no one likes curdled milk)
  4. On a gentle heat, continue to stir until the mixture thickens, simmer for 5 minutes and remove from the heat
  5. Optional: add in 4 egg yolks and beat them and add to sauce for a super creamy finish
  6. Stir in grated cheese until melted
  7. Season with salt and pepper

9. Pour the bechamel sauce over the mince
10. Sprinkle with extra parmesan cheese on top and add some light dashes of nutmeg on top
11. Bake your pastitsio at 180 degrees C for 40 minutes, or until golden brown

Time Needed

Nigella’s: 1 hour 40 minutes
Rookie’s: 2 hours, maybe more

Don’t forget to lick the koutali 😉

Product Used