Pastitsio :)

[g8ina]

Unashamedly nicked from Rick Stein's Med show (and modified by me - marked mod), I present Pastitsio, a wonderful variation on Lasagne.

Three separate lists :

1) Meat
500-800gms good minced beef
1 lge red onion finely chopped
2 red peppers thinly sliced (mod)
a few big button mushrooms, sliced thinly (mod)
LOADS of garlic
a few slivers of red chiili (mod)
6 fl oz good red wine (if it's not good enough to drink it ain't good enough to cook with !)
8 fl oz beef stock (Oxo will do)
1 sm tin tomato puree
salt & pepper

2) pasta
200 gms rigatoni or sim tubular pasta
1 egg
2 oz nice strong cheese (I used Lincolnshire Poacher)
1/4 tspn fresh grated nutmeg
salt

3) Bechemel Sauce
12 fl oz whole milk
1 egg
butter
plain flour
nutmeg
salt

Right, first cook off the pasta. Add the rigatoni to boiling salted water and cook till just al dente. Beat the egg into a bowl, add 1/2 the grated cheese and nutmeg. In another bowl, or the saucepan you used to cook the pasta, add 2 oz butter and melt it, add the pasta back into the butter. When it's all coated, add the pasta to the egg mix and mix well. Leave to stand.

Now cook off the onion, peppers, chillis & garlic in a load of good olive oil (I use Greek). When the meat is browned and any excess liquid from the mince has evaporated, add the wine and cook out, then add the stock, some salt and pepper, and the tin of tomato puree. Let this lot simmer for 15 mins or so.

Make a roux with the butter and flour, add the milk slowly whisking all the time till you get a nice glossy sauce.Now add a bit more nutmeg, and some more salt and pepper. When it's good, take it off the heat and leave it for a minute or two before whisking in the other egg.

OK ?

Good.

Now it's time to assemble it.

Stick 1/2 the meat sauce in a buttered casserole dish. Add 1/2 the pasta and spread around. Add the rest of the meat, then the rest of the pasta. Now pour all of the bechemel over the meat and pasta mix, smoothing it evenly. Finally, sprinkle the rest of the cheese over the top.

Cook this at Gas 4, Elec 180C for about 45-50 minutes. Leave it to stand for 5-10 minutes then serve with fresh crusty bread ( which I also made myself )

Enjoy.

Cassoulet tomorrow

[Lucio]

This sounds suspiciously like lasagne using a different type of pasta

However it also sounds very tasty

[mroz]

This sounds suspiciously like lasagne using a different type of pasta

However it also sounds very tasty

Damn good, but then I've just rembered I forgot to eat tonight, mostly as I ate a nice crusty cob at lunch time

[g8ina]

Pastitsio, a wonderful variation on Lasagne.

This sounds suspiciously like lasagne using a different type of pasta

Errr, yes, I did say that actually

[mroz]

No one said you didn't say it. Merely that the likeness was suspicious...

Not sure yet what we're meant to be suspicious of, but that is in itself somewhat supicious, I think.

/Nods sagely to self

[Lucio]

Errr, yes, I did say that actually

I think I'm developing a nasty habit of reading about half of your posts, posting something and then looking rather stupid

Ah well!