I've been to Greece many times and am a great admirer of the people and culture and especially the food. I had a dream about Greece last night and Pastitsio (meaning made from pasta) in particular so I'm making a batch now.
The beauty of this dish is it can be made so many ways either vegetarian (I always make it when vegetarians are coming to swim and/or dine) I've also made it with mussels, octopus, squid, shrimp, lamb but I prefer the traditional recipe using beef and pork the best.
Classic Pastitsio
You will need a 13X9" baking dish
1 TBL olive oil
1 peeled clove of garlic
1 1/2 pounds ziti or elbow macaroni
3/4 cup grated kefalotyri or Parmesan cheese
2 1/2 cups beef tomato sauce (recipe to follow)
1 tsp fresh oregano
2 cups Salta Besamel (recipe to follow)
2 lg eggs slightly beaten
Prepare your pan by spreading the olive oil in the pan and rubbing a clove of garlic over the bottom and sides.
Bring a pan of slightly salted to a boil and boil your pasta until tender about 12 minutes; drain and add half to the prepared dish. Sprinkle half the cheese over the pasta and then add you beef tomato sauce over it.
Beef tomato sauce With two TBL olive oil in a large frying pan brown 2 cloves of finely chopped garlic and 1 medium chopped onion until browning and translucent. Add a pound of finely chopped beef (I prefer sirloin for this)+ 8 oz ground pork; Cook until browned. In a large pot add two cups finely chopped tomatoes with the skins removed and if you feel like it throw in some sauteed mushrooms. Add two TBL sun dried tomato paste and 3/4 cup Mavrodaphne wine, 1 large bay leaf, 1 cinnamon stick and 1 tsp salt and a couple of grinds of black pepper. Bring to boil and simmer for an hour. Cool for an hour and remove cinnamon stick and bay leaf and pour over your pasta and sprinkle on the fresh oregano. (I usually make this the day before, if I'm organized I freeze a batch as it keeps in the freezer just fine for a few months)
Now back to your Pastitsio...
In a mixing bowl combine your Salta Besamel (White sauce) and eggs
Salta Besamel
3 TBL butter
3 TBL flour
1 1/2 cups milk
A pinch of salt
A good grind of fresh nutmeg
Melt the butter in a saucepan until foamy on med/high and add flour and whisk until smooth reduce heat to medium and add the milk and whisk until
smooth and grate in your nutmeg and add salt.
Add the remaining pasta over the top and spread the besamel egg mixture over the pasta and sprinkle the remaining cheese over the top and bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 50'ish minutes (depending on your oven) until golden on top and crispy around the edges of the pan. Remove from oven and let cool for 15 minutes to let it set slightly before cutting and serving.
(I know someone who prefers to use plain greek yogurt instead of the Salta Besamel)