My Big Fat Greek Pastitsio |
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Prep Time: 20 Minutes Cook Time: 1 Minutes |
Ready In: 21 Minutes Servings: 8 |
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This is real comfort food! I love this meaty, rich casserole. I must warn you - you will probably end up with very messy kitchen after making this, but it is worth it. Named in honor of the movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding which celebrates Greek culture. I have been making this homestyle Greek recipe for many years, but it originally came from one of my favorite military community cookbooks, Enough to Feed an Army. Prep time allows for cooking the macaroni and chopping the onions & garlic. Ingredients:
8 ounces elbow macaroni, cooked & drained according to package directions |
1 lb lean ground beef or 1 lb ground lamb (or combo) |
2 cloves garlic, minced |
3 tablespoons sweet unsalted butter |
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour |
3 large eggs |
2 medium onions, chopped |
2 (8 ounce) cans unseasoned tomato sauce |
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon, divided |
2 1/4 cups milk |
salt, to taste |
pepper, to taste |
ground nutmeg, to taste |
Directions:
1. In a nonstick skillet sprayed with nonstick spray, saute the onion over medium-high heat until translucent, 2-3 minutes or so.
2. Add meat to the pan and cook over medium heat until browned all the way through; drain fat.
3. Add tomato sauce, garlic,just 1 tsp of the cinnamon, and some salt to taste.
4. Simmer on low heat 20 minutes.
5. Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, melt the butter.
6. Once the butter has melted, stir in the flour, whisking until blended.
7. Remove pan from heat and whisk in the milk slowly until blended.
8. Return pan to heat and let simmer over low heat about 5 minutes, stirring often,or until thick and smooth.
9. Remove sauce from heat and let cool slightly.
10. In a bowl, beat eggs and then add small portion of the cream sauce, whisking quickly as you do.
11. Whisk in a bit more of the sauce, then add all the rest and whisk well until smooth.
12. (You can to be careful not to add too much at first or you will cook the eggs.) Season sauce with some salt& pepper and a dash of nutmeg to taste, mixing well.
13. Grease a 9x13 casserole with deep sides well and place hot macaroni in it.
14. Top with meat sauce, then sprinkle meat sauce with remaining 1 tsp cinnamon.
15. Pour cream sauce over all to cover.
16. You may need to shake the pan a little to make everything settle in (not too hard- you don't want sauce flying everywhere).
17. You may have a little extra cream sauce left over, depending on how deep your pan is.
18. Bake in a preheated 350 F oven for approximately 40 minutes or until custard is firm (no jiggling).
19. Let cool 10 minutes before serving.
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