Pasticio

Pasticio

Greek Pasticio demonstration

The typical Greek Pasticio  has a bottom layer of tubular pasta, with cheese and egg as a binder; a middle layer of ground beef with tomato and cinnamon, nutmeg or allspice; another layer of pasta; and a top layer of Bechamel sauce with cheese. Grated cheese is often sprinkled on top. Pasticio is a common dish, and is often served as a main course, with a salad.
This demonstration shows very clearly the different pasta layers, separated by the ground beef layer and the layer of Bechamel sauce. The complete recipe can be found in this link.

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Step 1: Butter a baking pan.  

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Step 2: Separate egg whites from egg yolks. Whites will be mixed with macaroni and yolks will be used in the bechamel sauce.   

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Step 3: Boil thick the macaroni and strain. Then mix them with the egg whites (beaten to make a merengue) and half of the grated cheese mixture.   

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Step 4: Spread a layer of macaroni into the baking pan by using HALF of the macaroni. 

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Step 5: In the meantime you should have prepared the minced meat.   

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Step 6: When all the juice of the minced meat has been absorbed add the rest of the cheese and mix. 

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Step 7:  Create a layer of minced meat above the layer of macaroni. 

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Step 8: Spread a layer of the rest of macaroni on top of the minced meat. 

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Step 9: Prepare the bechamel sauce. Make it thick, by using more flour, otherwise it will not stand on top of the macaroni. 

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Step 10: Spread the bechamel sauce on top of the macaroni.  

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Step 11: Bake for 40 – 45 minutes until top of the pasticio gets brown. 

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Step 12: Serve!

 

 

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