Traditional Greek Pastichio Recipe

Growing up Greek-American, I was introduced to a myriad of foods from my culture that many people would only find in a Greek restaurant. Regardless of how much labor went into a meal, my mother prepared these recipes effortlessly and without looking back on a recipe book. Getting a recipe out of her is nearly impossible, but after watching her make pastichio a few times and writing down the ingredients she used, I was able to make a traditional Greek Pastichio that tasted just like my mom’s!

Depending on what part of Greece you are from, common recipes could have slight differences. My family is from Cyprus, whereas my husband’s family is from mainland Greece. His family uses oregano in all their meals, while my family uses mint. It comes down to what was readily available before the times of importing and exporting.

This is one meal where you will use all the pots and pans you have, make a complete mess of your kitchen, but have a tasty dinner to wow your guests or have busy weeknight dinner ready to go. Trust me, it’s worth the mess!

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Traditional Greek Pastichio

Servings

Ingredients

Meatsauce:

• 1 pound chopped meat
• 1 medium chopped onion
• 3 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1/2 cup red wine
• 2 tsp mint
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• salt/pepper to taste

Bechamel Sauce

• 1 stick unsalted butter
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 gallon milk reserve 2 cups for the end
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup grated haloumi cheese or romano
• pepper

Servings Ingredients Meatsauce: 1 pound chopped meat 1 medium chopped onion 3 tablespoons tomato paste 1/2 cup red wine 2 tsp mint 1/2 tsp cinnamon salt/pepper to taste Bechamel Sauce 1 stick unsalted butter 3/4 cup all-purpose flour 1/2 gallon milk reserve 2 cups for the end 1 1/2 teaspoons salt 2 large eggs 1/2 cup grated haloumi cheese or romano pepper

Instructions

1. In a skillet, brown meat until cooked. Add chopped onion to meat and cook until translucent. Add tomato paste, spices, and wine. Simmer for 1/2 hour, put to the side.
2. In a separate pan, melt butter, add flour and whisk.
3. Add milk and heat up, stirring often to prevent sticking.
4. In a separate bowl, add eggs and reserved milk and whisk. Set aside. After the milk, flour, and butter mixture has boiled and thickens, temper egg mixture by slowly adding the warmed milk to the eggs.
5. After eggs are tempered, add them to the pot and mix thoroughly. Add salt, pepper, and haloumi. Mix until combined.
6. Add a ladel of beschamel to the cooked pasta and mix.

   
7. In a large pyrex casserole dish, layer- 1/2 the pasta, all the meat, the rest of the pasta, and then add the beschamel on top. Place in a 350 degree oven for 45 minutes, or until you have a golden color on top of the entire casserole. Let sit for a half hour and serve.

   

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