Greek Pasta and Beef

Submitted by yooper

"Mac and cheese goes international with this Greek inspired dish. To make it even more authentic, you could substitute ground lamb for the beef."

 

• Ready In: 1hr 25mins
• Ingredients: 18
• Serves: 12

ingredients

• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
• 1⁄2 cup water
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1⁄2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1⁄4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1⁄4 teaspoon pepper
• 1 lb elbow macaroni, cooked and drained
• 1 egg, sligtly beaten
• 1⁄2 cup grated parmesan cheese

• SAUCE

• 1⁄4 cup butter or 1/4 cup margarine
• 1⁄4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1⁄4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 3 cups milk
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1⁄3 cup grated parmesan cheese

directions

1. In a skillet, cook beef, onion, and garlic over medium heat until beef is no longer pink; drain.
2. Stir in tomato sauce, water and seasonings.
3. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionaly.
4. Meanwhile, in a bowl, combine macaroni, egg and Parmesan cheese; set aside.
5. In a large saucepan, melt butter, stir in flour and cinnamon until smooth.
6. Gradually add milk.
7. Bring to a boil over medium heat; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until slightly thickened.
8. Remove from the heat; cool slightly.
9. Stir a snall amount of hot mixture into eggs; return all to pan.
10. Cook and stir for 2 minutes.
11. Remove from the heat; stir in cheese.
12. In a greased 3-qt baking dish, spread half of the macaroni mixture.
13. Top with beef mixture and remaining macaroni mixture.
14. Pour sauce over the top.
15. Bake, uncovered at 350 for 45-50 minutes or until bubbly and heated through.
16. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Reviews

[canarygirl]

What a nice change of pace! The recipe was very easy to follow, and the dish easy to prepare (though it did make alot of dishes! ;) )I loved the flavors that the cinnamon and nutmeg gave the dish. I did add stock instead of water, as well as 1 tablespoon of tomato paste, as well as upped the garlic to 3 cloves and added about a teaspoon of oregano. My family and I really enjoyed this, and I will be making it again for sure! Thanks for a great recipe!

 

[JustJanS]

Yooper, I haven't made pastitso for years, thanks for the memory jolt. This was good, and I followed the recipe to the letter. I felt when I ate it though, that something was missing, so dug up my old recipe. It also had wine, tomato paste and stock, and I think that would deepen the flavour of the meat layer, other wise it was exactly the same. I would suggest that you would get 8 average servings out of the dish I cooked tonight, so watch that if your diners are average eaters.

 

[Sarah F.]

I cook this last night it came out perfect nd well yummy ??

 

[FCR Gal]

Made this for dinner tonight and it was a big hit with my DH. It is inexpensive to make using ingredients you always have on hand. I will have to agree that it did dirty a lot of dishes, but that won't stop me from making it again. We thought it had very good flavor and consistency. The only thing I was unsure about was the sauce. Is it a sauce or a crust? I baked it for 45-50 minutes as the recipe stated. The top was bubbly and heated through, but not like a crust. When I put a knife in it, the knife did not come out clean. Not sure what is correct. Nevertheless, we will make it again.

 

[stephdray]

This dish was something tasty and different, but it came out very dry for our tastes, and more bland than my family is used to. I also felt like I had to use every dish in the house! If I make it again, I will have to add something to make it wetter. Perhaps more tomato sauce or wine. Thank you for getting me thinking about Greek cuisine though. It's a nice change of pace.