This recipe was contributed by Maria Tsagrinos in honor of her father.
Meat Sauce Ingredients
- ½ stick butter
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 6 cloves garlic
- 1 lg. yellow onion, finely chopped
- 2 sticks cinnamon
- 1 tbsp. oregano
- salt
- 1 cup red wine
- 1 small can tomato paste
- 1 carton basil
- 2 lbs. ground beef
- 1 pkg. sage pork sausage
- 1 lg. can (1lb.) tomato sauce
- 2 reg. cans sliced, stewed tomatoes, Italian Style
- ½ clove nutmeg, grated
- 2-3 bay leaves
Preparation: Meat Sauce
- Mix red wine and tomato paste in a small bowl or cup, set aside.
- In large saucepan, heat oil/butter.
- Add onions, sauté until translucent.
- Add garlic, oregano, meat, and salt to taste. Brown the meat, slowly adding small portions of the **tomato paste/wine mixture throughout browning process.
- **Add SLOWLY so as not to cool temperature of browning ingredients drastically.
- Add stewed tomatoes, tomato sauce, chopped basil, bay leaves, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Turn down heat, and let sauce simmer for one hour.
Bechamel Sauce
Ingredients:
- 1 stick unsalted butter
- ½ cup and 2 tbsp flour
- 1 qt. whole milk, room temperature
- 1 pinch fresh nutmeg
- salt, pepper to taste
- 1 cup grated parmesan
Bechamel Preparation:
- In saucepan, melt butter on medium heat.
- Add flour, whisk until smooth (about 2 minutes).
- While stirring continuously, add milk **gradually until all gone.
- Whisk well until smooth.
- Simmer until mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon (about 10 mins.)
- Remove from heat.
- Stir in nutmeg, cheese, salt, and pepper.
Preparing Pastitsio
Additional Ingredients:
- 1 lb. penne
- 1 ¼ cup fresh grated parmesan or kefalotiri
- 1 Pinch each of cinnamon and nutmeg (optional)
- 2 tbsp. olive oil
- While the meat sauce is simmering, prepare the pasta. Cook until slightly underdone, remove, drain, toss with a couple of tablespoons of olive oil to prevent sticking, and set aside.
- Preheat oven to 350 F.
- In an 11x15x3-inch baking pan, add 1/2 the pasta for the first layer and sprinkle with 1/2 cup of the grated cheese. Add the meat sauce evenly over the pasta, and sprinkle with 1/2 cup of the grated cheese. Add the remaining pasta on top. Carefully pour the béchamel evenly over the top.
- Bake at 350F (160C) for 30 minutes, then sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup of grated cheese and nutmeg / cinnamon (optional) on top, and continue to bake for another 15 to 30 minutes until the sauce rises and turns golden brown.
- Remove from oven, cool for 20 minutes. Cut, and serve.