We love serving Pastitsio, also known as Greek Lasagna, to our friends and family. Made with pasta, meat sauce and bechamel, and flavored with nutmeg and cinnamon, pastitsio somehow seems more special than Italian Lasagna, and never fails to get raves from dinner guests.
Our Pastitsio is based on an old artery-clogging recipe from Jeff Smith’s cookbook The Frugal Gourmet Cooks Three Ancient Cuisines, which in turn comes from a Greek Orthodox Church cookbook called Greek Cooking in an American Kitchen. The original recipe calls for 9 eggs, 16 tbsp of butter and not a drop of olive oil! I’ve enlightened it quite a bit, although it is still quite a rich dish.
Something tells me this is not the original Greek version of Pastitsio – after all, the Mediterranean Diet is supposed to be healthy, right? I figure this Americanized version evolved when Greek immigrant housewives, unable to find (or afford) olive oil at the local A&P, turned to butter – and the rest is history.
But then, I asked the Greeks who run our local Pizza joint how they make their pastitsio at home. (These guys are the real thing, complete with accents.) “Butter” was their unequivocal answer. “We use butter for baking, and olive oil in our salads. Olive oil in Pastitsio would not taste right.” Our nurse manager, Maria, who is also Greek, concurs. “They do make it in Greece with olive oil, but it’s an entirely different dish. My kids don’t like it.” The pastitsio her kids love is made with two sticks of butter, making me wonder if her mother knew the ladies who wrote that church cookbook up there…
I did find a healthier Pastitsio recipe in John Kaldes’ cookbook Made in Greece. (Faithful readers may recall John from our little foray to the fish market in Newark…) John’s recipe uses no butter, not even in the bechamel, and calls for two different Greek cheeses. A bechamel made with olive oil – that’s got to be the authentic recipe.
I think I am going to make John’s Pastitsio next time and see how it stands up to the American version. I’ll let you know how it turns out. Better yet, John, how about a little Pastitsio Throw Down? (Update – The Throwdown is a go! Probably sometime early spring. Stay tuned…)
ARTERY CLOGGING, CROWD PLEASING, BIG, FAT AMERICAN PASTISTIO
Even I’m not going to use two sticks of butter in one recipe, so I’ve cut back considerably on that as well as the eggs. I also make a larger quantity of sauce than the original recipe, and serve it atop, since the Pastitsio can be a bit dry otherwise. I do what Jeff Smith suggests, and line my ziti up in rows so it looks pretty when sliced. Serve with a big side of green salad.
Meat Mixture
2 tbsp olive oil
1 large peeled and finely chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 pounds lean ground beef
2 large can peeled tomatoes, pulsed on processor (or used chopped tomatoes)
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp clovesMacaroni
4 qt water
salt
1 lb ziti
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 tbsp butter, melted
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheeseBechamel
4 tbsp butter
4 tbsp flour
2 cups warm milk
2 eggs, beaten lightly
2 tbsp dry sherry
1/2 tsp freshly ground nutmeg
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper to tasteHeat olive oil in a large skillet. Saute onion and garlic till golden. Add beef and cook till it just loses its red color, then add the remaining meat mixture ingredients and simmer, uncovered, for 30-45 minutes. It should be thick. Set aside.
Meanwhile, bring the water to a boil in a large stockpot. Add salt and ziti and cook, uncovered about 7-8 minutes. Drain and place in a large bowl. Add melted butter and beaten eggs and grated cheeses. Put half this mixture into the bottom of a greased 9x9x2 inch baking pan and top with about 2/3 of the meat mixture. (You’ll reserve the rest of the meat mixture, keeping it warm to serve atop the final dish). Cover the meat with the remaining half of the pasta.
Prepare the white sauce by melting butter in a large saucepan. Stir in flour and cook for a minute. Gradually add the heated milk, stirring constantly, and cook till thickened and smooth. Beat the eggs in a separate bowl, then stir in 1/2 cup of the bechamel. Blend and stir the egg/sauce mixture back into the bechamel in the saucepan and continue to stir over low heat til thickened. Add remaining ingredients to the sauce.
Pour the sauce over the ziti and bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 25-30 minutes, or until the top is delicately browned. Let sit for at least 10 minutes. Serve with a bit of sauce atop each serving.
You know, for someone supposedly so enamored of evidence-based medicine, you seem to have swallowed the kool-aid about saturated fats — specifically butter — being bad for you ("artery-clogging") hook, line, and sinker.
It turns out that the "evidence" against butter and dietary cholesterol is pitifully thin. Fifty years ago, people may have been dropping of coronaries in their 50s, but they were also smoking a great deal more, and many would probably have been labeled diabetic by today's standards. The replacement of good old butter with all kinds of trans-fat substitutes, the startling increase in consumption of processed carbohydrates, and the dramatic decrease in ambient exercise (elevators, escalators, suburban sprawl necessitating cars for everything) is far more likely to blame for the shift in health status we're seeing now.
I say use all the butter and eggs you want. Just don't have more than one small serving of the final dish.
(By the way, I've begun my own personal weight-loss program and have lost 20 lbs so far. It's based on a couple of truly radical principles:
1. I don't eat if I'm not hungry.
2. I eat whatever I want, but I really have to want it (ie, I make the effort if it involves making or getting it; no more "shopping in the refrigerator).
3. Sounds weird, but I finally got sick of that bloated "Why did I eat all that?" feeling, so I stopped eating as much. I also became more willing to throw food away (second half of a cheese steak, for example).
4. No exercise! (hehe) Seriously. It's been shown to increase your appetite. I've always said that exercise is good for you, but it does NOT produce weight loss. When it gets warmer (and I'm smaller), it'll be easier to get out and do more stuff. Right now: couch potato. A significantly smaller couch potato too, I might add.)
I love that Frugal Gourmet book too. He was definitely ahead of his time when it came to cooking! This sounds wonderful! I have a Greek friend who makes Pastitsio every year for Christmas Day and I always look forward to it!
Looks wonderful!
I can't keep coming to your site on an empty stomach….it's growling again. we're gonna be trying this one…and the sooner, the better!
I whole-heartedly agree with #1 Dinosaur. I too, have changed my eating habits to pretty much the same as Dino's. I've only lost 8 pounds since October but I've gotten rid of that bloated feeling and my clothes fit me better. I have always used butter and olive oil interchangeably. If it tastes better with butter I use it. Also, like Dino, I only eat when I'm hungry, take 1/2 portions most of the time, but no diet food except the Greek yogurt 0% fat that is quite tasty with fruit. I've cut out sweets—cake, candy, and ice cream, except for special occasions and then only a nibble. It works for me and the scale is going in the right direction.
Now to the pastitsio, I've been making a modified version of it for years but I tasted TBTAM's version and it's far better. And I said "tasted" — 1 – 2-inch square with a delicious salad and enough room for a wonderful devel's food birthday cake for dessert. There's a way to eat good food without the consequences of weight gain. I'm determined to stay with it.
Dino and Irene –
Congrats to both on taking a sensible approach to weight loss. I do agree with you that moderation in all things is wise, and a little butter ain't bad. For me, exercise does make weight loss easier, but I also find I am more inclined to do it in good weather when I can bike.
was married to a Greek, went to Greece to meet the family… all the Greeks I've met in the US or in Greece make Pastitso with butter.. it is not something you would make or eat very often, and is so rich that it doesn't take much to fill you up! I have gotten to not like it unless it has been cooked, cooled and then reheated – it just tastes better to me. It can take longer to reheat than to cook.
My husband was from Athens and the pastitio I make was a big success!
I always prepare Jeff Smith’s pastitio from The Frugal Gourmet Cook three Ancient Cuisines
and I highly recommend it! I have tried others but none compare the The Frugal Gourmet for taste, texture and compliments I receive from my guests!
This pastitio is even more delicious if you have any leftovers! Everyone wants seconds!
Marci –
Glad to get another authentic greek family thumbs up to my big fat american pastistio. There are never leftovers, I agree.
Thanks for reading.
Also, apologies for the post – it somehow lost paragraph and text formatting over the years – am going to pretty t up right now!
Peggy