Pasta Bake Pastítsio

Ingredients

• 1 large onion
• 1 can tomatoes
• parsley
• 4 tbsp olive oil
• 1 kg ground beef or lamb
• 1 tbsp Tomato Paste
• salt, freshly ground pepper
• 120 g Kefalotyri cheese
• 1 egg
• 500 g macaroni
• 50 g butter
• breadcrumbs
• 6 tbsp butter
• 5 tbsp flour
• 750 ml lukewarm milk
• salt, freshly ground pepper
• nutmeg
• 3 eggs

Instructions

1. 1.

   Peel the onion. Take the tomatoes from the can and finely chop them. Wash the parsley, pluck the leaves from the stems and finely chop. Heat the oil in a pot, grate the onion into it and sauté briefly. Add the ground meat and cook over high heat while stirring constantly.

2. 2.

   Add the chopped tomatoes with the liquid from the can and stir into the meat. Stir in the tomato paste, sprinkle parsley, season with salt and pepper. Cover and simmer on low heat for 30 to 35 minutes until the sauce thickens. Remove from heat and let cool.

3. 3.

   Grate the cheese. In a small bowl whisk the egg and mix with about one quarter of the cheese. Stir this mixture into the cooled meat. Meanwhile cook the macaroni in boiling salted water for 10 minutes until al dente. Drain, rinse under cold water and let drain. Mix in the butter and remaining cheese.

4. 4.

   Preheat the oven to 200 °C. For the béchamel sauce melt the butter in a pot, gradually whisk in the flour and sauté lightly. Slowly add the milk over low heat and simmer until a creamy sauce forms. Remove from heat, season with salt, pepper and nutmeg. Whisk the eggs into the sauce.

5. 5.

   Grease a baking dish (about 30 cm × 40 cm) and sprinkle breadcrumbs on it. Spread half of the macaroni evenly, top with the meat mixture, then cover with the remaining macaroni. Spread the béchamel sauce over the surface. Place the dish in the oven and bake the pasta casserole for about 40 minutes until the surface is golden brown.