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Pastitio

Also known as "Greek Lasagna", the recipe below yields a rich and exotic pasta dish. To make authentic, find Kefalotiri cheese at a Greek, International food market or order it online. The pasta traditionally used is labeled as "Pastitsio no. 2". This pasta is also available online. Substitute for the Pastitsio pasta with ziti, penne, mostaccioli, etc.

Ingredients
greek tomato sauce
16 oz ground lamb
28 oz canned tomatoes with liquid
4 cloves garlic
1/2 Tsp ground allspice
1/2 Tsp ground cinnamon
1 large onion
1/2 cup white wine
1 Tsp dried Greek oregano
salt
black pepper
olive oil (Greek preferred)
pasta
16 oz Pastitsio or other tubular pasta
2 eggs beaten
1/2 cup Kefalotiri cheese
4 Tbl butter

mornay
7 Tbl butter
6 Tbl flour
1 1/3 cup Kefalotiri cheese
6 cups milk whole milk
freshly grated
salt
2 eggs beaten
Method
Mince the onion. Smash the garlic. For the tomato sauce, saute the lamb and onions in olive oil until the onions become translucent. Throw in the wine, tomatoes, garlic, cinnamon, allspice, oregano, salt and pepper. Simmer moderately for 20-25 minutes until reasonably thick.

For the pasta, cook it to under al-dente (It needs to be firm. The pasta will cook again to tenderness.). Drain the pasta, return it to the pan and stir butter, eggs and cheese in.

For the mornay, heat up a thick, aluminium pan over a medium flame. Melt the butter. Sprinkle the flour into the butter, while whisking constantly with a wire whip. Cook until lightly toasted. Pitch in the milk and vigorously whip until properly combined. Reduce this mixture over a medium flame, while stirring periodically. When sauce becomes thick and bubbly, add freshly grated nutmeg, Kefalotiri cheese and salt to tatse. Remove the pan from heat. Temper the egg by removing a ladle of the sauce to a dish and introduce the beaten egg while whipping strenuously. Return sauce/egg mixture to the pan, and whip some more.

Arrange the pasta in an 11 inch by 13 inch pyrex baking dish, lining up the pasta end to end, on the bottom of the dish. Do a second pasta layer - identically. The purpose of this technique is so that after sliced, every slab of the lasagna, when looked at cross-wise, resembles a honeycomb. Ladle the red sauce overtop the pasta. Spoon the white sauce - carefully - over the top of the pasta. Scatter a good dose of grated Kefalotiri cheese over the surface.

Bake in a pre-heated 350-365 degree F oven for 30-35 minutes. Allow the dish to rest for 15-20 minutes before slicing into squares.

note
If fresh tomatoes are available, substitute 10 medium sized ones for the 28 oz can. Slice the tomatoes in half then grate them off their skins with a metal box grater.