Pastitsio

👨‍🍳 Method

For the Meat sauce

1. 1
   Preheat the oven to 180°C (355°F).

   ⚙ Preheating the OvenOven

   💡Put things in the oven only once it's reached temperature, after the heating light has gone off: an oven that hasn't reached temperature changes baking times, and the bake burns outside or stays underbaked.
2. 2
   Heat the olive oil in a pot over medium heat.

   ⚙ Pan-fryingStovePot
3. 3
   Add the onion and fry, stirring, until the onion turns golden.

   ⚙ Adding to the hot fat and fryingStove

   💡Add by cooking time: what needs long (onion, carrot, meat) goes in first, and what burns fast (garlic, dry spices) goes in last, only until fragrant.
4. 4
   Add the garlic and fry about 30 seconds to 1 minute, just until fragrant. Don't let the garlic brown.

   ⚙ Adding to the hot fat and fryingStove

   💡Garlic burns quickly and turns bitter. Add it only after the onion has softened, over medium heat, and add the next ingredient as soon as it smells fragrant.
5. 5
   Raise the heat to medium-high and add the meat. Press it flat over the bottom and leave it for 2–3 minutes without stirring, until a brown crust forms.

   Stove

   💡Brown ground beef in the pot without pressing it: leave it as one 'cake' for a few minutes until a brown crust forms, then break it into chunks. Deep browning = deep flavor.
6. 6
   Break it up with a wooden spoon and fry for 5–7 more minutes, stirring, until no pink is left and the meat browns.

   StoveWooden spoon
7. 7
   Add the tomato paste to the meat and stir 1 minute, until it darkens a little.

   💡Fry the tomato paste with the meat for a minute before the liquids: it caramelizes lightly, loses its sourness and deepens the sauce.
8. 8
   Pour in the red wine, scrape up what stuck to the bottom, and cook for 3–5 minutes, until about half the wine has evaporated.

   Stove

   💡Adding the red wine at the start and cooking it long lets the alcohol evaporate and the flavor deepen.
9. 9
   Add the allspice and cinnamon, season with salt and black pepper and bring to a boil.

   Stove
10. 10
    Serve hot 0.

    ⚙ SimmeringStoveLid

    💡The slower the sauce cooks, the thicker it gets and the better the flavors blend. 20–30 minutes make a quick meat sauce; an hour and a half to two hours over low heat make a rich Bolognese.

    💡A gentle simmer, not a boil: a hard boil dries the food out and clouds it, a slow simmer cooks it evenly.

For the Cooked pasta

1. 11
   Cook the pasta in plenty of boiling salted water (4¼ cups of water and a heaping teaspoon of salt for every 4 oz of pasta), following the package directions (taste about 2 minutes early), until al dente.

   ⚙ Cooking in salted waterStovePot

   💡The water should taste like a seasoned soup, not like sea water: a heaping teaspoon of salt per liter. Add the salt once the water is boiling.
2. 12
   Drain.

   Colander

For the Béchamel

1. 13
   Melt the butter in a pot over medium heat, add the flour and stir 1–2 minutes, until a smooth roux forms and starts to bubble.

   StovePot
2. 14
   Gradually add the milk, whisking constantly, and cook 5–8 minutes, until the sauce is thick and coats the back of a spoon.

   StoveWhisk

   💡Add the milk slowly, whisking constantly, so no lumps form. For lasagna, the common ratio is about 7 g flour per 100 ml milk (4 tablespoons flour to 2 cups): more flour gives a thick béchamel, for moussaka; less flour gives a soft béchamel, for a sauce.
3. 15
   Season with salt, Nutmeg and black pepper.

To assemble

1. 16
   Beat the eggs and mix with the pasta and with half of the parmesan.

   BowlWhisk
2. 17
   Grease a baking pan with the oil and spread in it a layer of half of the pasta, then the meat sauce over it and the rest of the pasta on top. Pour the béchamel over it in an even layer.

   Baking pan
3. 18
   Sprinkle the rest of the parmesan on top.
4. 19
   Bake 40–45 minutes, until the top is golden and bubbling.

   ⚙ BakingOvenBaking pan

   💡Check by the cue (until…), not just the clock: every oven bakes a little differently.
5. 20
   Leave the pastitsio out of the oven 10 minutes, and only then cut.