Cookaholics Bulletin Board

I made this recipe from one of the special edition CI mags, and afterward said it was too bland (it was.) Becky took me to task because she didn't think it had enough seasoning in it and I should have noticed. When I was making it, the meat sauce and the bechamel separately were pretty good, but when I combined them, it was like cold oatmeal. Fortunately, Son's friend's dropped by and they will eat anything that can't get away first, so it didn't go to waste. I don't know what it's supposed to taste like; it sounds good, but needs something......



Greek Lasagna (Pastitsio)
2/2011

You will need a total of 4 ounces of Pecorino Romano cheese. Use whole milk Greek yogurt in this recipe.

Serves 8 to 10
MEAT SAUCE

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, chopped
3 tablespoons tomato paste
6 garlic cloves , minced
2 teaspoons dried oregano
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 1/2 pounds 93 percent lean ground beef
Salt and pepper
1/2 cup red wine
1 (15-ounce) can tomato sauce
1/2 cup Pecorino Romano cheese

PASTA AND BECHAMEL SAUCE

Salt and pepper
8 ounces elbow macaroni
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
3 garlic cloves , minced
5 cups whole milk
1 1/2 cups Pecorino Romano cheese
3 large eggs





1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 425 degrees. Heat oil in large skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Add onion and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in tomato paste, garlic, oregano, and cinnamon and cook until paste begins to darken, 1 to 2 minutes. Add beef and 1 teaspoon salt and cook until beef is no longer pink, about 5 minutes. Stir in wine and cook until reduced to about 1 tablespoon, 2 to 4 minutes. Add tomato sauce and simmer until slightly thickened, about 10 minutes. Off heat, stir in Romano. Season with salt and pepper; set aside.

2. Bring 4 quarts water to boil in Dutch oven. Add 1 tablespoon salt and macaroni and cook until nearly al dente, 3 to 4 minutes. Drain in colander and rinse with cold water until cool. Drain again and transfer to large bowl.

3. Melt butter in now-empty Dutch oven over medium heat. Add flour and garlic and cook, stirring constantly, until golden and fragrant, about 1 minute. Slowly whisk in milk and bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until thickened and reduced to 4 cups, about 12 minutes. Off heat, whisk in 1 cup Romano until smooth. Season with salt and pepper.

4. Stir 2 cups béchamel into macaroni until combined. Transfer sauced pasta to 13 by 9-inch baking dish. Beat eggs in now-empty pasta bowl until smooth. Whisk 1 cup béchamel into egg mixture. Slowly whisk tempered egg mixture into remaining béchamel. Stir in yogurt

5. Spread meat sauce over macaroni and top with egg-béchamel mixture. Sprinkle with remaining Romano and bake until golden brown, 35 to 40 minutes. Let cool 10 minutes. Serve.

MAKE AHEAD Meat sauce can be refrigerated in airtight container for 3 days. Microwave, covered, until heated through, about 1 minute, before proceeding with step 2.




STEP BY STEP: Bechamel Two Ways
1. The parcooked elbows are combined with 2 cups bechamel sauce. The pasta finishes cooking to full tenderness in the oven.
2. Beaten egg and yogurt are combined with the rest of the bechamel. This modified sauce is poured over the assembled casserole for a custardy, golden topping.

Looks good actually. I would up everything a bit in the meat mixture and be sure the meat and sauce have enough salt. More than you think because it has to carry the pasta. I would probably put some red pepper flakes into the the meat and maybe caramelize the onions before adding the garlic.

Also, did you measure the cheese by weight or volume? If you used a fine microplane you get a lot of air.

I also did a quick google check and a lot of the recipes had more spices, like thyme and nutmeg and mint.

I would love to try this and see what I can tell you but my butt and I are having a battle of the wills and I can't let it have the upper hand. I will have to keep it in mind for when I have a "sin" meal.

Mary

Hi,

What brand of cheese did you use?

The quality of Pecorino Romano varies significantly. We usually purchase Locatelli which is aged for nine months. Pecorino Romano is a DOC protected cheese and is identified by the black paper wrapping.

Tim

Dont remember pec/ro brand. Whatever Weg carries which is usually pretty good. Also, I used ground lamb rather than ground beef.

Maybe it's not you, kiddo. I've always found Pastitsio to be a little bland. Certainly nothing like Italian Lasagna.

I checked my Greek cookbook by the Recipe Club of St Paul's Greek Orthodox Cathedral in Hempstead, NY and in addition to all of your ingredients, they included 2 cups plum tomatoes, chopped and used Parmesan or Kefalotiri cheese.

Fitzie

parm rather than pec/ro or in addition to......?

Parm rather than

I really love the use of nutmeg in this dish-some in the bechamel and some in the meat sauce. I suppose I thought you didn't adjust to taste as you cooked. This isn't spicy like lasagna is spicy, and the pasta will absorb a lot of salt as it bakes, so a bit over salted to start may help.
You might be able to find a frozen Pastitsio at Wegmans that would give you an idea of how it's supposed to taste.

The bechamel needs seasoning. I'd add 2 tsp nutmeg (1 tsp if fresh-ground), 1/2 tsp black pepper, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, and 1 tsp salt. More if your pecorino isn't very salty.

Thanks for the ideas! I'm going to give it one more try, with suggested adjustments. It really does sound good. You would think that as multicultural as it is here, we would have a good Greek restaurant.

I'll report back.