Pastitsio
Baked pasta with spiced beef and a thick bechamel top.
Ingredients
- 400 g Penne
- 600 g Ground beef
- 1 Onion
- 400 g Canned tomatoes
- 1 Cinnamon stick
- 80 g Butter
- 80 g 00 flour
- 800 ml Milk
- 2 Egg
- 80 g Parmigiano-Reggiano
- 1 tbsp Salt
Method
- Heat the oven to 190C (375F).
- Finely chop the onion.
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.
- Cook the penne two minutes shy of tender — it finishes in the oven.
- Drain the pasta.
- Brown the beef with the chopped onion in a pot over medium-high heat, then add the canned tomatoes and cinnamon stick and simmer into a thick ragu.
- Make a thick bechamel from the butter, flour, and milk in a saucepan, then beat in the eggs and grated cheese off the heat.
- Layer half the pasta, then the ragu, then the rest of the pasta in a baking dish and blanket the top with the bechamel.
- Bake until the top is golden and set, about 40 minutes.
- Rest 15 minutes.
- Slice and serve.
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About Pastitsio
Pastitsio is the great baked pasta of the Greek table, a layered casserole that sits alongside moussaka as one of the country's defining oven dishes. It's built in three strata: tubular pasta on the bottom and top, a spiced beef ragu in the middle, and a thick, custardy bechamel blanketing the whole thing before it bakes. What sets it apart from an Italian baked pasta is the warmth of the spicing — a cinnamon stick simmered into the meat sauce gives the beef a sweet, almost mulled aroma that runs through every bite, balanced by the savory depth of tomato and onion.
The pleasure of pastitsio is in the contrast of textures: a burnished, set top that slices cleanly, a creamy layer of egg-enriched bechamel bound with grated cheese, and the firmer pasta and rich ragu beneath. This version leans on two details that make it worth the effort — cooking the penne just shy of tender so it holds its shape through baking, and beating eggs and cheese into the bechamel off the heat so it sets into a firm, sliceable custard rather than a loose sauce. It's food for a crowd and for gathering: a Sunday lunch, a holiday table, or a make-ahead dish that rewards the full 15-minute rest, which lets the layers firm up so each square comes out neat instead of collapsing on the plate.
Pastitsio: frequently asked questions
How many calories are in Pastitsio?
A serving has about 799 calories — 41.3g protein, 73.7g carbs, 36.7g fat, 4.4g fiber. Figures are estimated from the ingredient amounts and will shift with your portions and brands.
Is it high in protein?
Each serving has about 41.3g of protein, roughly 21% of its calories.
Is Pastitsio gluten-free?
As written, no — it contains Penne, 00 flour. You'd need a certified gluten-free swap for those ingredients to make it gluten-free.
Is Pastitsio dairy-free?
Not as written — it uses Butter, Milk, Parmigiano-Reggiano. Swapping those for a plant-based alternative makes it dairy-free.
How long does Pastitsio take to make?
About 84 minutes start to finish, but only around 40 of those are hands-on — the rest is largely unattended cooking time you can step away from. In the Homecooked app the timers and parallel steps are sequenced for you so the hands-on part feels even shorter.
How many servings does Pastitsio make?
This recipe makes 6 servings. In the app you can scale it up or down and the ingredient amounts adjust automatically.