Pastitsio

Pastitsio ( _el. παστίτσιο; IPA2|paˈsti.tsi.o) is a Greek baked pasta dish.

Pastitsio is a layered baked dish. There are variations throughout the regions of Greece but typically the bottom layer is bucatini or other tubular pasta with cheese and egg as a binder; the second layer is ground meat (beef, veal or lamb) with tomato and cinnamon, nutmeg, or allspice; the third is another layer of pasta; and the top layer varies from an egg-based custard to a flour-based Béchamel or a Béchamel with cheese known as Mornay sauce in France. Grated cheese is often sprinkled on top and a dusting of cinnamon and/or nutmeg makes the dish classically Greek.

Pastitsio is a common dish, and is often served as a main course, with a salad. In Cyprus it is an essential dish during celebrations such as Easter, where it is served along with the spit roasted meat. Each recipe varies, but usually the meat sauce in the middle is made of pork, tomatoes are only sometimes used, and it is flavoured with mint and parsley. The top is sprinkled with grated Haloumi cheese, though cheese is only sometimes added to the white sauce.

In many regions of Greece and Cyprus, pastitsio is called "Macaronia tou Fournou". Pastitsio takes its name from the Italian "pasticcio", also known as "Lasagna al Forno" in some regions of Italy. Lasagna al Forno is made instead with a flat noodle or sheet pasta called "lasagna" (from "lagana" in Classical and Modern Greek) instead of a tubular pasta. Lasagna al Forno / pasticcio is a baked pasta dish with many variations, usually containing no meat, just vegetables and a dough crust, some of which include ragù with a custard or Béchamel topping, still some with no Béchamel and Riccotta cheese instead and typically contain more tomato or tomato sauce than Greek Pastitsio variations. [Vincenzo Buonassisi gives 41 kinds in "Il Nuovo Codice della Pasta" ]

ee also

Macaroni béchamel, the Egyptian variant

Footnotes

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