• RECIPES

Recipe Directions

For the preparation of the easy rigatoni pastitsio, chop in blender bacon, garlic, onion, carrot and celery (you can also chop them by hand).

For the juicy minced beef sauce

Heat the olive oil in a saucepan and cook the meat mince until it is fully browned. Add all the remaining ingredients and stir to dry for a few minutes. Add the tomato puree, cook stirring for 1 minute, and add the canned crushed tomatoes. Cover the saucepan,  lower heat and let simmer for 30 minutes. If the minced meat dries quickly, add a little hot water.

Towards the end of the boiling, add bay leaf and cinnamon and season with salt and pepper. It is important that the minced beef will be quite juicy at the end, so you may need to add a little hot water or broth. Let the herbs aromatize for 5 minutes and remove.

For the easy bechamel cream

Put all the ingredients cold in the casserole (except the eggs), and, by stirring regularly over medium to high heat, let them boil and thicken for a few minutes.

Once the light bechamel cream has boiled, remove from the heat.  Leave to cool for 5-6 minutes and add the beaten eggs and parmesan cheese. Stir with quick movements with the whisk, so that the eggs are well integrated in the cream.

Set up the easy pastitsio

Boil the pasta in salted water for 2-3 minutes less than indicated on the package. Drain them. Add the rigatoni to the minced meat and add half the cream and the cheese. Stir to fill the pasta with the sauces and pour them into a greased heat-resistant baking pan.

No reason to worry if the sauce is juicy. The pasta will absorb it better and will have a perfect taste. Pour over the rest of the cream and stir lightly with a fork to put it in the rigatoni. 

Do not put them in layers like the classic pastitsio. The cream will fill the hole of the rigatoni and will pop in the mouth at each bite.

Sprinkle the whole surface with 3 spoons of shredded parmesan cheese and bake in a preheated oven in the air at 180-200 degrees C for 30 minutes, on the middle grill until a light crust is formed on the surface. Do not cut into pieces while it is hot. Serve the light pastitsio with a ladle while the creams are still pouring.

If you want a thinner texture in the bechamel for a fluffer result, add 1 cup milk in the bechamel cream and the pastitsio will become more trembling.

Enjoy it!