Pastichio

Recipe about Greek pastichio.



Ingredients


For the meat sauce:


-600grams ground beef
-1/3 cup olive oil, 1 finely-chopped onion
-3 ripe tomatoes, peeled and finely-chopped, (or 400 grams of cherry tomatoes), ½ package of tomato paste
-1 tablespoon sugar (optional), 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and cleaned
-1/2 tablespoon spices, ½ tablespoon ground nutmeg
-1/2 tablespoon powdered cinnamon or 1 stick of cinnamon, pinch of salt

For the becamel sauce:


-100 grams of butter or margarine
-100 grams all-purpose flour
-1 liter fresh milk, 2 eggs beaten
-fresh ground black pepper and nutmeg
-1 cup gruyere head cheese (Amfilochias), shredded, and 2 cups for on top

For the macaroni:


-1 package thick macaroni for pastichio, #3
-1 whole egg and 1 egg white, lightly beaten
-2-3 teaspoons olive oil

Directions


For the meat sauce:


In a large sauce pan, add 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat.  When oil is hot, sautee the chopped onion and ground beef, continue to mix together.  Once they start to brown, add the tomatoes, tomato paste, a pinch of sugar, a dash of garlic and our spices.  Continue to boil this sauce for 45 minutes, checking that there is ample water to prevent it from drying or burning up.  Before the sauce is ready, make sure any excess water is nicely absorbed into the sauce.  Once we turn off the heat, remove the garlic clove and cinnamon stick.


For the becamel sauce:


In a large saucepan, over low heat, melt the butter or margarine and then add the flour.  Mix well until fully blended (no flour balls or pellets).  Gradually and slowly add the milk, mixing all the while to make sure the mixture becomes fully blended, then add the eggs, continuing to mix we slowly add in the cheese.
After a couple of minutes of mixing, now add the nutmeg, pepper and salt, continue mixing.  Once you feel the becamel sauce is ready, we then cover it with a fresh cloth towel, so that no crust forms.


For the macaroni:


Boil the pasta, drain thoroughly and then place in the pan again, over low heat.  Now add the eggs and olive oil, mix thoroughly, giving it flavor and texture.

Mixture in pan:


To reach our final result, a delicious, perfectly baked pan of pastichio, we combine all the mixtures together.  First, however, pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees C.  In the base of the pan, add one layer of the macaroni, and sprinkle on top a layer of cheese.  Then add a layer of the ground beef mix, again adding a sprinkle of cheese.  Next add the remainder of the macaroni, then, carefully and evenly, pour the becamel sauce over the whole mixture.  Sprinkle on top any leftover cheese, and if so desired, some bread crumbs.  Place the pan in the oven, and bake for 45-60 minutes, or until the top of the pastichio turns golden brown.