Pastitsio

Well, my plan was to make Lasagna, until I looked in the pantry and found NO lasagna noodles!!! Great planning, right! So, I thought.... Shepherds Pie? Meatballs? Lettuce Wraps? Tacos? NO! I need something new, so I went to the NEW COOK BOOK. Which is silly, why is it called the new cook book, when it is by far the oldest cookbook ever! Sorry, I should have turned this picture, but I didn't!

So, I found this recipe for Pastitsio, which I have no idea how to pronounce... but I have had it at a Greek restaurant before and loved it. So, I thought (without looking closely enough at the recipe) I have everything I need and this looks easy.

Well, it was pretty easy... like making home made Lasagna (in my opinion it is easy, others may differ in opinion). But, I didn't realize I would need almost 2 cups of milk and I had only one cup left in the fridge. So, I had to borrow a cup of milk from my neighbor, like the olden days! It was kind of fun... so, enough rambling. Here is one of my new favorite hamburger recipes!

Pastitsio

1 pound ground beef or turkey
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 clove garlic minced
1 8 oz can tomato sauce
1/4 cup dry red wine (I think you could go without)
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon salt, pepper and ground cinnamon
4 eggs
3 tbsp butter
3 tbsp flour
1 and 3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 cup elbow macaroni cooked

Cook meat with onion and garlic. Drain fat and mix in tomato sauce, wine, oregano, salt and cinnamon. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat. Simmer for 10 minutes. Gradually stir meat mixture into one of the eggs.

Make the sauce in a sauce pan. Melt butter and then add in the flour and pepper... this will make a paste. Next, add 1 and1/2 cup of milk all at once. Cook and stir until thick and bubbly. Gradually stir sauce into 2 of the beaten eggs. Stir in half of the parm cheese. Toss macaroni with the remaining egg, milk and parm cheese.

To assemble in a 8by8 pan, start with half the macaroni mixture. Next, pour all the meat mixture on top the noodles, followed by the rest of the noodles and then all of the sauce. Sprinkle with additional cinnamon and bake in the oven at 350 for 30-45 minutes or until set. Let stand 5 minutes, then serve!

This recipe was adapted from the Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book.