Pastitso 2

Servings: 8
Ingredients:

500 g  Long macaroni
4 tb Butter
3/4 c  Grated Kefalotyri cheese *
1/4 ts Nutmeg
Salt and pepper
3    Eggs; lightly beaten

———————————MEAT SAUCE———————————
1 lg Onion; chopped
1 Garlic clove; crushed
2 tb Butter
750 kg Ground beef
1/4 c Tomato paste
1/2 c Dry red or white wine
1/2 c Stock
2 tb Chopped parsley
1/2 ts Sugar
Salt and pepper

——————————–CREAM SAUCE——————————–
1/3 c Butter
1/2 c Flour
3 c Milk
1/4 ts Nutmeg
Salt and pepper
1 Egg; lightly beaten

*Note: if Kefalotyri cheese is unavailable, Parmesan may be used instead.

Serves: 12 as a first course; 6-8 as a main course
Cooking time: 1-1/2 hours
Oven temperature: 180 C (350 F)

Cook macaroni in boiling, salted water until just tender. Drain and
return to pan.

Melt butter until golden brown and pour over macaroni. Add 1/2 cup of the
cheese, the nutmeg, salt and pepper to taste and toss well. Leave until
cool, add eggs and toss again. Keep aside.

Make meat sauce. Gently fry onion and garlic in butter until onion is
soft, increase heat and add ground beef. Stir well and cook until meat
begins to brown. Add remaining meat sauce ingredients, cover and simmer
over gentle heat for 20 minutes.

Make cream sauce. Melt butter in a saucepan, stir in flour and cook
gently for 2 minutes. Add milk all at once and bring to the boil,
stirring constantly. Boil gently for 1 minute. Add nutmeg, salt and
pepper to taste and cool a little before stirring in beaten egg. Add 1/2
cup of this sauce to the cooked meat sauce.

To assemble Pastitso, butter a 33 x 23 x 8 cm (13 x 9 x 3 inch) oven dish.
Spoon half of the prepared macaroni evenly in the base and top with the
meat sauce. Cover with remaining macaroni, levelling top.

Pour on cream sauce and spread to completely cover macaroni. Sprinkle
remaining cheese on top and cook in a moderate oven for 50 minutes until
golden brown. Let stand for 10 minutes before cutting into squares to
serve.

From: ‘The Complete Middle East Cookbook’ by Tess Mallos.
ISBN: 1 86302 069 1

Typed for you by Karen Mintzias

—–