Greek Pastitsio Recipe (Baked Pasta with Bechamel)

If moussaka is the famous one, pastitsio is the one Greek families actually make more often. It is easier, cheaper, more forgiving, and children eat it without argument. The three layers are the same idea as moussaka with pasta standing in for aubergine.

What makes it Greek rather than an Italian bake is the cinnamon in the meat sauce and the sheer depth of the bechamel. This is not a thin gratin topping. It is a proper set custard layer, often as thick as the pasta beneath it, and getting that right is most of the dish.

The other distinguishing feature is the pasta itself. Greek pastitsio uses long, thick, hollow tubes that stay whole rather than short shapes, so the layer holds together and you cut through it cleanly.

Key preparation steps

1. Undercook the pasta by three minutes, then toss with egg white and cheese.
2. Reduce the cinnamon-spiced meat sauce until thick and almost dry.
3. Make a bechamel thick enough to mound on a spoon, then enrich with yolks.
4. Layer pasta, meat, pasta, bechamel, pressing each layer flat.
5. Bake until deep gold and rest for thirty minutes before cutting.

Which pasta for pastitsio?

Greek shops sell pasta specifically labelled for pastitsio, usually numbered 2 or 3, which is a long hollow tube slightly thicker than bucatini. If you can get it, use it.

Bucatini is the closest widely available substitute and works very well. Failing that, use the longest, thickest tubular pasta you can find, such as ziti or a long macaroni. Avoid penne and rigatoni: short shapes tumble around, leave gaps, and the layer collapses when you cut into it.

Cook the pasta three minutes short of the packet time. It will absorb liquid from the meat sauce and continue cooking in the oven for a full hour, and pasta boiled to al dente at the start turns to mush by the end.

Why toss the pasta with egg white and cheese?

This is the traditional trick and it is worth doing. Drain the pasta, let it cool slightly, then toss it with the reserved egg whites and a handful of grated cheese.

The egg white sets in the oven and binds the pasta strands into a coherent layer instead of loose tubes. It is the difference between a slice that holds its shape on a plate and one that slumps into a heap.

The whites are the ones left over from the yolks you will use in the bechamel, so nothing is wasted.

The cinnamon question

Cinnamon in a meat sauce sounds strange to anyone who has only met it in baking, and it is the single element that most defines Greek pastitsio. Used properly it does not taste sweet or of pudding. It gives a warm, faintly resinous background that makes the tomato taste rounder.

A level teaspoon for 750 g of mince, plus a stick of cinnamon simmered in the sauce and removed at the end, is the right level. A pinch of ground clove and a bay leaf complete the profile. If you overshoot, the sauce tastes like mulled wine and there is no rescuing it, so measure rather than guess.

How thick should the bechamel be?

Thicker than any other bechamel you make. It should hold a soft peak on the spoon and fall reluctantly. If it pours, it is too thin, and it will sink into the pasta rather than sitting on top as a distinct layer.

The ratio that works is 100 g each of butter and flour to a litre of milk, cooked out properly, then enriched off the heat with three or four egg yolks and a good quantity of grated hard cheese. Nutmeg is essential.

Make the bechamel last, just before assembling, so it is still warm and spreadable. A bechamel that has sat and set is very hard to spread evenly without dragging the layer beneath it.

Layering and resting

Half the pasta, all the meat sauce, the remaining pasta, then the bechamel. Press each layer flat with the back of a spoon or a spatula so there are no air pockets, and take the bechamel right to the edges to seal it.

Bake at 180C for around an hour, until the top is deeply browned rather than merely set. Then leave it alone for thirty minutes minimum. As with moussaka, this is not optional. The bechamel needs to firm up or the whole thing will slide apart on the knife.

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