Dec 16, 2013 3 min read

When I was growing up, Thanksgiving and Christmas meals meant lamb, pasticcio, feta cheese and baklava, intermixed with turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy.

My grandparents had come from Greece, and they had no problem supplementing the traditional holiday meal with their old-world favorites.

One of my favorite dishes from My Big Fat Greek Thanksgiving is pasticcio, a meat and pasta dish. Some people liken it to a Greek version of lasagna, but I think pasticcio is in its own class with its alternating layers of savory meat and buttery noodles topped with a thick layer of béchamel sauce.

One of the secrets to making a good pasticcio is using cinnamon. I know what you’re thinking – isn’t cinnamon used in baking sweets? Actually, cinnamon has a very similar taste to saffron, the ingredient traditionally used in pasticcio. The problem is that saffron is one of the world’s most expensive spices, averaging around $70 an ounce. Using cinnamon is the poor man’s way of getting around saffron.

Pasticcio is great served as a meal or as a side dish. This recipe makes a pretty large amount of food, so you may want to make two smaller trays or invite some friends over. I’ve also had luck with freezing a prebaked pasticcio if you want to freeze one and serve the other.

You’ll want to give yourself ample time for all the steps involved: There’s a reason the old Greek ladies complain about how hard it is to make pasticcio.

Pasticcio

Ingredients

1.5 pounds macaroni (elbow, ziti or penne style are usually best)

1 cup butter

4 egg whites (reserve the yolks for béchamel sauce)

2 pounds ground beef

¼ cup Parmesan cheese, plus a little more to sprinkle on top

1 onion, chopped

24 ounces canned tomatoes, drained

Cinnamon to taste

Cook macaroni for 6 minutes; drain and rinse. In a large skillet, melt a half-cup of butter. Pour the melted butter over the macaroni, and add the egg whites and ¼ cup of Parmesan cheese; mix well.

In a large pan, melt almost all of the remaining butter, except for 2 tablespoons. Add the diced onions, and cook until soft. Add the ground beef, and cook until browned. Add drained tomatoes. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and cinnamon to taste. (There’s no right amount of cinnamon. I start with a teaspoon, and then add to taste. You do not need a ton!)

Simmer on medium-low heat until the liquid is absorbed. Prepare béchamel sauce from recipe below. In a large greased pan, place half the macaroni in an even layer, then an even layer with the meat mixture on top. Add the other half of macaroni. Pour béchamel sauce over the top in an even layer. Drizzle the last 2 tablespoons of butter on top with grated cheese, salt, pepper and some cinnamon.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 45 minutes, or until the béchamel sauce has a golden-brown color.

Béchamel sauce

1 cup butter

1 cup flour

1 quart (4 cups) milk, warmed

4 egg yolks, beaten

Salt and pepper to taste

Melt butter in a large pan. Using a whisk, slowly add flour while blending thoroughly. Take pan from heat and slowly mix the warmed milk into the flour/butter. Cook the mixture over medium-high heat until thickened, stirring constantly so the mixture doesn’t burn. Once thickened, add the egg yolks to the sauce. Stir in salt and pepper.

Nick Kratsas, online editor