Greek Pastit*io recipe (Greek Lasagna with Béchamel) (2024)

Table of Contents
What is Greek Pastit*io / Pastichio? How to make traditional Greek Pastit*io? Greek Pastit*io recipe – Prepare the pasta Greek Pastit*io recipe – Prepare the meat sauce Greek Pastit*io recipe – Prepare the Béchamel sauce Can this Greek Pastit*io recipe be made in advance? Can you freeze baked Pastit*io / Pasticcio? What goes well with it? Greek Pastit*io recipe (Greek Lasagna with Béchamel) Description Ingredients Similar recipes you may like! Instructions Nutrition

Jump to Recipe

My very best Greek Pastit*io recipe (Pastichio)! This is my authentic “Greek Lasagna” recipe for you to make this traditional delight just like my grandma used to make it! So go ahead, read on to discover all my tips and tricks, my video showing you how to make it and of course the recipe!

What is Greek Pastit*io / Pastichio?

The simplest way to describe what is Pastit*io is a Greek version of Lasagna! Thetraditional pastit*io / Pasticcio recipe has a deep layer of tubular pasta, a delicious, aromatic beef ragu and is topped off with athick and velvety béchamel sauce.

This is the ultimate Greek comfort food, along with the legendarytraditional Greek Moussaka of course!

Greek Pastit*io recipe (Greek Lasagna with Béchamel) (1)

How to make traditional Greek Pastit*io?

This easy to follow Greek pastit*io recipe can be summarised in threesimple steps:

  1. Prepare the Pastit*io pasta
  2. Prepare the meat sauce
  3. Prepare the béchamel sauce

In the sections below I’ll take you through each one of these in more detail so you can easily make the very best pastit*io on your first try!Truth is that the whole process will require dirtying some pans, but the end result is well worth it!

Greek Pastit*io recipe (Greek Lasagna with Béchamel) (2)

Greek Pastit*io recipe – Prepare the pasta

The authentic Greek Pastit*io recipe is made with bucatini pasta, a thick pasta like spaghetti with a hole running through the center. This pasta is what is used to make Pastit*io in almost every Greek household or restaurant.

However sourcing bucatini pasta abroad can be a bit tricky, so a more convenient alternative that you can readily find at your local supermarket is penne pasta and ziti.

There are two little tips that make all the difference when preparing the pastit*io pasta. Firstly, boil the pasta for the pastit*io 2-3 minutes less than the package instructions.Your pasta will also cook when the dish is baked in the oven, so if you cook them fully on their own they will turn out mushy!

Secondly mix the boiled pasta with crumbled feta cheese and a the whites from two eggs. The feta cheese will give your pasta a delicious tang while the egg whites will help the pasta stay together when your pastit*io is cut!

Greek Pastit*io recipe (Greek Lasagna with Béchamel) (3)

Greek Pastit*io recipe – Prepare the meat sauce

Greek pastit*io (pastichio/pasticcio/Pastizio) owes its distinctive and rich flavour to the two aromatic spices used in the meat sauce. These are nothing else thancinnamonandclove!Once put in the oven, the intense aromas of those spices bring back so many childhood memories!

See Also
Best Easy Starter RecipesEasy Beef and Barley Stew – Madison's RecipesSave time and effort by cooking in a coffee pot. Here are 9 easy-to-make recipesMini Spanakopita Triangles Recipe (Spanakopitakia / Greek spinach triangles)

To prepare the pastit*io meat sauce start by heating up a large pan on medium/high heat, add the olive oil, the chopped onions and sauté until the onions are translucent. Add the beef, tomato paste, garlic and break it up to small chunks using a wooden spoon.

Let it simmer until its nicely browned and cooked through. Then proceed to deglaze the pan with the wine, add the tomatoes and spices and season with some salt and pepper. Let it simmer for a while until the sauce has reduced and has barely any liquid left in it. Finally taste it and add some more salt & pepper to taste if needed!

Greek Pastit*io recipe (Greek Lasagna with Béchamel) (4)

Greek Pastit*io recipe – Prepare the Béchamel sauce

The perfect béchamel sauce for your pastit*io should be smooth, thick and creamy. To achieve the perfect texture the key is to add the lukewarm milk a little bit at a time whilst constantly stirring with a whisk. Whisk the sauce constantly, allow the flour to absorb the milk and add some more until the milk is used up. That way your sauce will turn out incredibly smooth and creamy!

Secondly be careful to set your stove to medium to low heatso that your bechamel sauce doesn’t burn and doesn’t stick on the bottom of the pan!

Finally, once you add the grated cheese to your béchamel it will thicken up a little bit. So keep that in mind to achieve the right texture. At that point give your bechamel a taste and add some salt. It will lift the flavour and make your bechamel taste simply divine!

Greek Pastit*io recipe (Greek Lasagna with Béchamel) (5)

Can this Greek Pastit*io recipe be made in advance?

Making Greek Pastit*io can be a bit time consuming, so sometimes you will need to prepare it in advance.If you like to prepare pastit*io in advance, you can prepare all its components above and assemble it the previous night. Let it cool down completely, cover it with some cling film and put it in the fridge. The next day put it straight in the oven and bake it! Just remember to let it cool down before cutting it up.

Alternatively you can prepare the whole pastit*io and bake the day before, let it cool down, wrap in cling film and store in the fridge. When its time to serve, pop it in the oven for 20 minutes at 150C/300F to reheat it, cut it up and serve immediately.

Greek Pastit*io recipe (Greek Lasagna with Béchamel) (6)

Can you freeze baked Pastit*io / Pasticcio?

This pastit*io recipe can also be cooked in advance and frozen in individual portions. Truth is that sometimes you will end up with leftovers, as this recipe makes for a generous baking tray! Let your pastit*io cool down completely, cut it up in pieces and place it in sealed plastic containers and then in the freezer.

To serve it, thaw in the fridge the night before, heat your oven to 150C/300F and warm it up for 20-30 minutes until warm throughout. It will taste as good as fresh!

Greek Pastit*io recipe (Greek Lasagna with Béchamel) (7)

What goes well with it?

I love serving my pastit*io with a refreshing Greek feta salad, or aGreek Orzo Salad (Orzo feta salad) and some greek country style crusty bread. You don’t need anything else as this dish is pure perfection on its own!

If you love Pastit*io as much as I do then you have to give these amazing recipes a try!

See Also
Mushroom Swiss Burger Recipe

  1. Traditional Greek Moussaka!
  2. Stuffed eggplants (Papoutsakia) also known as individual moussaka!
  3. Vegetarian moussaka

So go ahead, give this traditional Pastit*io recipe a try and amaze your friends and family with this extra tasty hearty dish!

Print

Greek Pastit*io recipe (Greek Lasagna with Béchamel) (8)

Greek Pastit*io recipe (Greek Lasagna with Béchamel)

Greek Pastit*io recipe (Greek Lasagna with Béchamel) (9)Greek Pastit*io recipe (Greek Lasagna with Béchamel) (10)Greek Pastit*io recipe (Greek Lasagna with Béchamel) (11)Greek Pastit*io recipe (Greek Lasagna with Béchamel) (12)Greek Pastit*io recipe (Greek Lasagna with Béchamel) (13) (1,185 votes, average: 4.72 out of 5)
Greek Pastit*io recipe (Greek Lasagna with Béchamel) (14)Loading...

  • Author: Eli K. Giannopoulos
  • Prep Time: 20 minutes
  • Cook Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
  • Total Time: 1 hour 35 minutes
  • Yield: 8 1x
  • Category: Main
  • Method: Baked
  • Cuisine: Greek
Print Recipe

Description

The Best Greek Pastit*io recipe (Pastichio)! An authentic Greek Lasagna recipe to recreate this traditional delight just like my grandma used to make it.

Ingredients

Scale

Base Ingredients

  • 450g/ 15oz. bucatini pasta, penne or ziti
  • 110g/ 4oz. feta cheese
  • 2 egg whites

For the meat sauce

  • 900g/ 30oz. lean ground beef
  • 2 medium sized red onions (finely chopped)
  • 2 cloves of garlic (chopped)
  • 400g/ 14oz. canned chopped tomatoes
  • 1 tbsp tomato paste
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 150ml/ 5 fl.oz. red wine
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 1 whole clove
  • 1/4 of a cup olive oil
  • 2 teaspoons sea salt and freshly ground black pepper (to taste)

For the bechamel

  • 120g/ 4.3 oz. plain flour
  • 120g/ 4.3 oz. butter
  • 1000ml/ 34 oz. milk
  • 2 egg yolks
  • 50g/ 1.7oz. Kefalotyri or Parmigiano-Reggiano
  • a pinch of nutmeg
  • salt to taste
  • 50g/ 1.7oz. Kefalotyri or Parmigiano-Reggiano to sprinkle

Similar recipes you may like!

  • Easy Chicken Recipe with Orzo…
  • Greek Pasta Salad recipe
  • Makaronia me Kima recipe (Greek…
  • Traditional Zucchini pie recipe…


Instructions

  1. To prepare this traditional pastit*io recipe (pastichio), start with the meat sauce. Place a large pan over medium-high heat and add the olive oil, the chopped onions and sauté for 2-3 minutes. Add the garlic, tomato paste and the beef. Break up the meat with a wooden spoon and brown for 4-5 minutes. Pour in the red wine and wait to evaporate. Add the canned tomatoes, the sugar, cinnamon, clove, the bay leaf and season. Bring to the boil, turn the heat down and simmer with the lid on for about 30 minutes, until most of the juices have evaporated. (After the meat is cooked, discard the bay leaf, the clove and the cinnamon)
  2. Prepare the bechamel sauce for the pastit*io. Melt the butter in a large pan over low-medium heat. Add the flour whisking continuously to make a paste. Add warmed milk in small batches, whisking continuously in order to prevent your sauce from getting lumpy. If the sauce still needs to thicken, boil over low heat whilst continuing to stir. Remove the pan from the stove and add the egg yolks, salt, pepper, a pinch of nutmeg and the grated cheese (50g/ 1.7oz.). Whisk quickly, in order to prevent the eggs from turning an omelette! Season with salt to taste.
  3. Cook the pasta for the pastit*io 2-3 minutes less than the package instructions, so that they don’t get mushy after turning out of the oven later. Drain the pasta and stir in the egg whites and the feta cheese (smashed with a fork) and mix gently with a spatula.
  4. For this pastit*io recipe you will need a large baking dish, approx. 25*35 cm / 10*14 inch. Butter the bottom and sides of a pan and assemble the pastit*io. Layer the pasta, top with the meat sauce and even out. Top the pastit*io with the bechamel sauce and smooth out with a spatula.
  5. Sprinkle the pastichio with grated cheese and bake in preheated oven at 180C (350F) Fan for about 40 minutes, until crust turns a light golden brown. Let the pastit*io cool down for a while before serving.

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 1 square
  • Calories: 724kcal
  • Sugar: 11.1g
  • Sodium: 607.6mg
  • Fat: 30.7g
  • Saturated Fat: 14.6g
  • Unsaturated Fat: 14.1g
  • Trans Fat: 0.2g
  • Carbohydrates: 63.2g
  • Fiber: 3.1g
  • Protein: 44.5g
  • Cholesterol: 169.6mg

Keywords: how to make pastit*io, Pastit*io, Pasticcio, Pastichio, Greek lasagna, pasta bake with béchamel sauce

Greek Pastit*io recipe (Greek Lasagna with Béchamel) (2024)
Top Articles
Coconut Curry Pumpkin Soup Recipe - Went Here 8 This
8 Almond Pulp Recipes - Going Zero Waste
Tamil Muhurtham Dates 2024 | Suba முகூர்த்த நாட்கள்
Waking Up in Brahma Muhurta: What to Do and Health Benefits - Fitsri Yoga
Latest Posts
8 SIBO Soup Recipes To Keep You Warm - The Healthy Gut
Vegan Chicken Parmesan Recipe | Baked Tofu Parm with Pasta
Article information

Author: Maia Crooks Jr

Last Updated:

Views: 6278

Rating: 4.2 / 5 (43 voted)

Reviews: 82% of readers found this page helpful

Author information

Name: Maia Crooks Jr

Birthday: 1997-09-21

Address: 93119 Joseph Street, Peggyfurt, NC 11582

Phone: +2983088926881

Job: Principal Design Liaison

Hobby: Web surfing, Skiing, role-playing games, Sketching, Polo, Sewing, Genealogy

Introduction: My name is Maia Crooks Jr, I am a homely, joyous, shiny, successful, hilarious, thoughtful, joyous person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.