Pastitsio!

So, last night, we had this "Greek lasagna."  It was quite tasty, very filling, and not too hard on the pocketbook!

• 1 pound ground lamb (beef works, as well!)
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• .5 tsp cinnamon
• 1 cup tomato sauce
• 4 tbsp butter
• 4 tbsp flour
• 3 cups milk
• 12 oz penne pasta
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• .5 cup grated parmesan cheese

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Grease a 2-quart casserole dish.
3. Cook pasta.  Drain.
4. While pasta is cooking, brown meat in a heavy skillet.  Add onion and garlic and cook until soft.  Mix in cinnamon and tomato sauce.
5. In a saucepan, melt butter.  Whisk in flour and cook one minute.  Whisk in milk and let simmer 20 minutes, stirring often.
6. Add beaten eggs and .25 cup parmesan to the white sauce.
7. Add half the pasta to the casserole dish.  Top with all the meat mixture.  Add the rest of the pasta.
8. Pour the white sauce over the top.
9. Sprinkle the remaining parmesan cheese on top of the white sauce.
10. Bake for 45 minutes.

If I were to change anything about this, I would salt everything, use about half the pasta, and perhaps leave the eggs out of the white sauce.  Otherwise, it was very, very tasty.  Hubby loved it, too, so that's always a plus!

For the diet-conscious, here's the deets:


Calories          476
Total Fat         26.4g
Cholesterol     111mg
Carbs               41.5g
Protein             21.7g

All in all, not too shabby! 

Greek Pasta and Beef

We love Greek food.  Can't get enough hummus, moussaka, kabobs, etc.  Even our 7-month old gobbles up his pacifier dipped in hummus from our favorite Greek restaurant.

So.  I tried my hand at a Greek Pasta and Beef dish.  And mmmmmmm...

Here goes nothing!

For the beef mixture!

Macaroni, beef, onion, garlic, tomato sauce, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, pepper, egg, Parmesan cheese

Not pictured:  water

Cook macaroni according to package directions.

In a large skillet, brown ground beef with onion and garlic over medium heat.

Drain.

Add tomato sauce, water, and seasonings.  Cover and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Set aside.

In a large bowl, combine the cooked macaroni, egg, and parmesan cheese; set aside.

For the sauce:

Butter, flour, cinnamon, milk, egg, parmesan cheese

In a medium saucepan, melt butter.

Stir in flour and cinnamon until smooth.

Gradually add milk.  Bring to a boil - cook and stir for 2 minutes.

Remove from heat.  Stir a small amount of hot mixture into eggs.  Return all to pan, stirring constantly.

Stir in cheese.

In a greased baking dish, spread half the macaroni mixture.

Top with beef mixture.  (I forgot to snap a picture.)

Top with remaining macaroni mixture.

Pour sauce over the top.

Bake uncovered at 350 for 45 minutes.  Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Nom your heart out!

Recipe:

Beef mixture:

8 ounces elbow macaroni

.5 pound ground beef

1 medium onion, chopped

1 garlic clove, minced

4 ounces tomato sauce

.25 cup water

.5 teaspoon salt

.25 teaspoon ground cinnamon

.125 teaspoon ground nutmeg

.125 teaspoon pepper

1 egg, lightly beaten

.5 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Sauce:

.5 cup butter

.25 cup flour

.125 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1.5 cups milk

1 egg, lightly beaten

.33 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1)  Cook macaroni according to package directions.  In a large skillet, cook beef, onion, and garlic over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain.  Stir in the tomato sauce, water, and seasonings.  Cover and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Drain macaroni.

2)  In a large bowl, combine the macaroni, egg, and Parmesan cheese; set aside.  In a large saucepan, melt butter; stir in flour and cinnamon until smooth.  Gradually add milk.  Bring to a boil over medium heat; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until slightly thickened.

3)  Remove from the heat.  Stir a small amount of hot mixture into eggs; return all to pan, stirring constantly.  Stir in cheese.

4)  In a greased 3-quart baking dish, spread half of the macaroni mixture.  Top with beef mixture and remaining macaroni mixture.  Pour sauce over the top.  Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees for 45-50 minutes or until bubbly and heated through.  Let stand for 5 minutes before serving.

Strength Modifier:

This was sooo good and filling!!

Intelligence Modifier:

This was extremely easy to put together!

Wisdom Modifier:

 We keep just about everything on hand except things like macaroni, so, it was still very easily obtainable.

Charisma Modifier:

We each at multiple bowls-full.  It was wonderful!

Constitution Modifier:

I used whole wheat macaroni and very lean ground beef, so it wasn't all bad.  Served with a nice salad, I don't think it would put a huge dent in anyone's diet plan.

Overall score:

The highest scoring dish we've made so far!  Would certainly make again!