Pastizio – Greek pasta casserole with minced meat and béchamel sauce

Ingredients for 12 servings:

• 1 kg macaroni
• 50 g butter
• ½ tsp, leveled nutmeg
• ½ tsp, leveled salt
• ½ tsp, leveled pepper
• 6 tbsp, heaped Parmesan, freshly grated
• 2 kg minced beef or mixed
• 2 tsp, heaped salt
• 2 tsp, heaped pepper
• 2 tsp, heaped nutmeg
• 2 tsp, heaped cinnamon
• 4 m.-sized onion(s)
• ½ liter dry red wine
• 2 tube(s) Tomato paste (400 g)
• 100 g breadcrumbs
• 200 g Parmesan
• 2 liters of milk
• 200 g butter
• 150 g flour
• 1 tsp, leveled salt
• 1 tsp, leveled pepper
• 1 tsp, leveled nutmeg
• 1 tsp, smothered cinnamon
• 8 eggs
• 300 g Parmesan
• 90 g breadcrumbs
• some butter flakes

Instructions

Working time approx. 50 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 45 minutes; Total time approx. 1 hour 35 minutes

A bit time-consuming, but worth it!

Cook the macaroni in salted water for about 10 minutes. Then drain in a colander. Meanwhile, melt the butter (50g) in a saucepan and then briefly toss the drained pasta in it. Season the pasta with half a teaspoon each of salt, pepper, and nutmeg and stir in 6 heaped tablespoons of Parmesan cheese. For the meat filling, brown 2kg of minced meat (beef or mixed) in a large pan and break it up until cooked through. Stir in the remaining ingredients (2 heaped teaspoons of salt, 2 heaped teaspoons of pepper, 2 heaped teaspoons of nutmeg, 2 heaped teaspoons of cinnamon). Peel and roughly chop the onions, then puree them in a bowl with the red wine and add to the meat mixture. Add two tubes of tomato paste and mix everything together. Simmer over medium heat for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Set aside 2 heaped tablespoons of the 100g breadcrumbs (for the baking dish) and stir the rest into the meat mixture along with 200g Parmesan cheese. Depending on the size, grease 1 to 2 baking dishes and dust with 1-2 tablespoons of breadcrumbs. Then spread half of the pasta in the baking dish and spread the meat mixture on top. Add the other half of the pasta and press everything down with a spoon. For the béchamel sauce, bring 2 liters of milk to the boil and melt the butter (200g), then sift in the flour (150g) and bring to the boil again, stirring constantly. Now stir in a level teaspoon each of salt, pepper, nutmeg and cinnamon. Then beat the 8 eggs in a bowl with a mixer and gradually add a little of the sauce (not too much at once! About 4 tablespoons at a time) until the egg mixture is lukewarm. Then stir the mixture into the sauce and bring back to a boil briefly, then stir in 150g of Parmesan cheese. Spread the béchamel sauce into the casserole dish and smooth it down. Sprinkle with another 150g of Parmesan cheese and 90g of breadcrumbs. Sprinkle a few knobs of butter on top and bake in the oven at 170°C (350°F) for about 45 minutes. The casserole is best sliced ​​once it has completely cooled. You can also freeze the pastizio in portions.