Greek Pastitsio For Two Recipes

Steps:

• Grease a 8" x 8" baking dish (or any smaller casserole dish).
• Add the pasta to a large pan of boiling water; boil, uncovered, until just tender; drain.
• Combine the hot pasta, eggs and cheese in a large bowl; mix well.
• Press into casserole dish.
• To make the meat sauce, heat the oil in a large pan, add the onions and ground turkey and cook, stirring, until the meat is well browned.
• Stir in the tomato puree, beef stock, wine, and spices; simmer uncovered until thick; cool.
• Stir in the egg.
• Layer on top of pasta layer in casserole dish.
• Stop here to freeze or continue to bake and eat immediately.
• To make the topping, melt the butter in a large saucepan and add the flour.
• Stir over low heat until bubbling.
• Remove from the heat and gradually stir in the milk.
• Stir over low heat until the sauce boils and thickens.
• Stir in the cheese and cool slightly.
• Stir in the egg yolks.
• Pour sauce over the meat layer and smooth the surface.
• Sprinkle with the breadcrumbs.
• Bake, uncovered, in a 350 degree F oven for 40 minutes or until lightly browned.
• Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.
• You can also freeze it at this point and just reheat the entire dish in the oven.

Steps:

• 1. Cook pasta; drain and return to pan. Stir in 4-1/2 tsp melted butter, 8 tsp parmesan cheese, 1/2 beaten egg. Reserve other half of beaten egg for later. Set aside.
• 2. Cook ground beef and chopped onion in skillet until meat loses its pinkness and the onion softens. Drain excess fat from pan.
• 3. Stir in tomato sauce, salt, mint flakes if using, cinnamon, nutmeg, and pepper. Set aside. (The recipe calls for 1/2 can of tomato sauce but I always use a whole can.)
• 4. Melt 2 T butter in a saucepan. Then mix in flour and 1/4 tsp salt. Slowly stir in milk, stirring well after each addition so no lumps form. Cook and stir on medium high until cream sauce starts to thicken. Stir for one more minute; then remove from heat.
• 5. Pour other half of beaten egg into cream sauce, stirring briskly. Blend in remaining parmesan cheese.
• 6. Layer half the pasta in a 2 quart baking dish. Spoon meat mixture over the top, then the remaining pasta. Pour cream sauce over the top to completely cover the pasta.
• 7. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes, or until hot and lightly browned. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Steps:

• Cook penne according to package directions. Drain, rinse with cold water to eliminate sticking, and set aside.
• Lamb mixture:.
• Heat olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium high heat. Brown lamb in two batches, seasoning with salt and pepper. Set lamb aside and pour off excess grease.
• Reduce heat to medium and add onion. Cook until translucent, about 5minutes. Add garlic, rosemary, oregano, and nutmeg. Cook another minute. Add wine and deglaze pan.
• Reduce wine to about 1 tablespoon. Stir in tomatoes, including liquid, and lamb. Season with additional salt and pepper. Simmer for about 15 minutes. Stir in Haloumi cheese and cook another 5 minutes.
• Heat oven to 400°F.
• Sauce:.
• Heat milk in the microwave on high for 1 1/2 minutes. Melt butter in a sauce pan over low heat. Whisk in flour and cook, stirring constantly, for four minutes.
• Slowly pour in hot milk, whisking steadily, and cook until thickened. Slowly whisk in egg yolks. Whisk in kefalotiri (Haloumi or parmegiano) cheese, cooking until melted and thick. Stir in salt and pepper.
• Assemble:.
• Toss pasta with shredded Haloumi or mozzarella cheese. Layer 3/4 of pasta in the bottom of 9 x 13 casserole dish. Layer meat mixture on top of pasta.
• Distribute remaining pasta over meat. Pour sauce evenly over pasta. Place casserole in middle of oven and cook for 35 - 45 minutes or until top is a golden brown.
• Serve with fresh crusty bread and a salad.