Ina Garten-Inspired Pastitsio
If you have made this and it slumped when you cut it, you made lasagne with Greek seasoning. The difference is in the top layer.
The white layer on a pastitsio is a baked custard, not a sauce. A béchamel is beaten with egg yolks and cooked down until it is thick enough to be spread with a spatula rather than poured — closer to a thick porridge than to a pouring sauce. In the oven the eggs set it into a firm, sliceable layer that holds everything below it together.
If it pours off the spoon, it is not ready. Keep cooking it, and add another yolk.
Jump to the recipe ↓Ina Garten-Inspired Pastitsio
Serves 10 · Main
- Prep
- 40 min
- Cook
- 1 hr
- Total
- 2 hr
Involved7 steps, 17 ingredients, over two hours
Ingredients
For the meat
- 900 g minced lamb or beef
- 2 onions, diced
- 4 garlic cloves
- 3 tbsp tomato purée
- 1 x 400 g tin chopped tomatoes
- 150 ml red wine
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon, pinch of allspice
- 2 tsp kosher salt
For the pasta
- 500 g bucatini or ziti
- 2 egg whites
- 80 g Kefalotyri or Parmesan, grated
For the custard top
- 100 g butter
- 100 g plain flour
- 1 litre whole milk, warmed
- 4 egg yolks
- 1/2 tsp grated nutmeg
- 100 g grated cheese
Method
- Brown the meat hard, then add the onions and soften. Add garlic, tomato purée, spices, wine and tomatoes. Simmer until thick and almost dry.30 minutes
- Boil the pasta short. Drain and toss immediately with the egg whites and cheese.2 minutes
- Melt the butter, cook the flour , then whisk in the warm milk. Simmer until very thick — thicker than any sauce you would serve.2 minutes
- Off the heat, beat in the yolks, nutmeg and cheese. It should hold its shape on a spoon.
- Layer: pasta, then meat, then spread the custard over with a spatula.
- Bake at 180°C for , until deep gold and set.45–55 minutes
- Rest before cutting. This is not optional.30 minutes
Bind the pasta layer too
The tubes underneath get their own treatment: tossed while hot with grated cheese and beaten egg white, which sets around them and glues the layer into a solid slab. Skipped, the pasta stays as loose tubes and the slice falls into its components on the plate.
Cinnamon and allspice are the point, not a garnish
The warm spicing in the meat layer is what distinguishes pastitsio from every other baked pasta. Half a teaspoon of cinnamon and a pinch of allspice in a kilogram of lamb reads as savoury depth rather than as spice — most people cannot identify it and would notice immediately if it were gone.
Rest it, or it will not slice
The custard and the pasta are both still soft at the moment they come out of the oven, and they firm as they cool. Cut it hot and it will collapse whatever you did with the eggs. Half an hour on the counter is the difference between squares and spoonfuls.
Storing
Four days, and it slices better cold than hot. Reheat portions at 170°C, covered. It freezes well baked, for three months.
Questions people ask
Why is my pastitsio runny?
The top layer was a pouring béchamel rather than an egg-enriched custard, or it was cut before resting.
What pasta should I use?
Bucatini or ziti — long tubes that line up in the layer. Small shapes give a muddled texture.
Can I make it ahead?
Assemble a day ahead and bake from cold, adding 15 minutes.
What cheese is traditional?
Kefalotyri. Parmesan or pecorino are close enough substitutes.
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