Pastitsio
The Greek answer to lasagne, built quite differently: instead of pasta sheets there are thick tubes laid in parallel, and the béchamel forms a thick layer of its own, not just a topping. Two things hold it together: egg folded through the pasta, which sets and welds the tubes into a single layer, and cinnamon and allspice in the meat — what separates pastitsio from a bolognese.
Your own work in that: 0 min.
- Meat sauce 60 min
- Pasta 12 min
- Béchamel 15 min
- Baking 45 min
- Resting 25 min
Step by step
0 / 8 doneMake a thick cinnamon-spiced meat sauce
Soften the chopped onion in the olive oil, add the garlic, brown the meat, add the wine and reduce, then the passata, tomato paste, cinnamon, allspice, bay leaves, salt and pepper. Simmer 45 minutes uncovered, until the sauce is thick and almost dry, and remove the bay leaves. A loose sauce soaks through the pasta and makes the base of the bake soggy.
Ingredients: 700 g minced beef · 2 pcs onions · 4 cloves garlic · 400 g tomato passata · 2 tbsp tomato paste · 150 ml red wine · 1 tsp cinnamon · ½ tsp allspice · 2 pcs bay leaves · 3 tbsp olive oil · 2 tsp salt · ½ tsp black pepper
Cook the pasta two minutes short
Boil the tubes in salted water for 2 minutes less than the packet says (usually about 10–12 minutes) and drain. They finish in the oven, absorbing moisture from the sauce and the béchamel — cooked through first, they end up overcooked after baking.
Ingredients: 500 g tubular pasta · 2 pcs eggs · 100 g hard cheese
Toss the warm pasta with egg and cheese
Mix the drained, still-warm pasta with the beaten eggs and grated cheese. The egg sets in the oven and welds the tubes into a single sliceable layer — without it pastitsio falls apart as you lift a portion.
Ingredients: 500 g tubular pasta · 2 pcs eggs · 100 g hard cheese
Warm pasta coated in egg and cheese.Lay the tubes parallel, all one way
Spread the pasta in a 25×35 cm dish, laying the tubes in the same direction, tightly packed. Laid parallel they form a structure you can see in cross-section and that holds its shape when cut. Tipped in at random you get an ordinary pasta bake.
Ingredients: 500 g tubular pasta · 2 pcs eggs · 100 g hard cheese
Every tube the same way, packed tight.Spread the meat in an even layer
Spread the meat sauce over the pasta evenly, right to the edges of the dish. The layer must be the same depth throughout — an uneven one lets the béchamel touch the pasta in places and the layers slide apart when cut.
Ingredients: 700 g minced beef · 2 pcs onions · 4 cloves garlic · 400 g tomato passata · 2 tbsp tomato paste · 150 ml red wine · 1 tsp cinnamon · ½ tsp allspice · 2 pcs bay leaves · 3 tbsp olive oil · 2 tsp salt · ½ tsp black pepper
Cook a thick béchamel and beat in yolks
Make a roux with the butter and flour, cook 2 minutes, add the milk in stages and cook 10 minutes to the thickness of double cream. Season with salt and nutmeg. Off the heat, cool 5 minutes and only then beat in the yolks — in hot béchamel they set into lumps.
Ingredients: 100 g butter · 100 g plain flour · 1200 ml milk · 3 pcs egg yolks · ½ tsp nutmeg · 100 g hard cheese
Spread the béchamel and bake 45 minutes
Pour the béchamel over the meat, level it and scatter with cheese. The layer should be about 1.5–2 cm — in pastitsio the béchamel is its own layer, not a topping. Bake 45 minutes at 180°C, until deep golden and puffed.
Ingredients: 100 g butter · 100 g plain flour · 1200 ml milk · 3 pcs egg yolks · ½ tsp nutmeg · 100 g hard cheese
A thick layer of béchamel, level to the edges.Rest 25 minutes before cutting
Leave the bake for 25 minutes. The béchamel and the egg in the pasta have to set — cut immediately, pastitsio spreads across the plate; rested, it lifts out as a clean square with three visible layers.
Ingredients: 700 g minced beef · 2 pcs onions · 4 cloves garlic · 400 g tomato passata · 2 tbsp tomato paste · 150 ml red wine · 1 tsp cinnamon · ½ tsp allspice · 2 pcs bay leaves · 3 tbsp olive oil · 2 tsp salt · ½ tsp black pepper
Before you start
The pasta matters
You need thick, rigid tubes — Greek makaronia no. 2, bucatini or ziti. Thin pasta fuses into a mass and the cross-section stops being legible, and that section is what separates pastitsio from an ordinary bake.
The cinnamon is not a mistake
A teaspoon of cinnamon and half a teaspoon of allspice in the meat is a signature of Greek cooking, the same as in moussaka. They do not read as sweetness — they give the meat a warm, spiced depth.
Better the next day
In the fridge pastitsio sets completely and slices perfectly on the second day. Reheat by the portion, covered with foil, for 20 minutes at 170°C — uncovered, the béchamel dries into a crust.
