Irini’s Pastitsio

For the meat sauce

60ml olive oil

2 medium red onions, finely chopped

2 cloves of garlic, chopped

1 tablespoon of tomato purée

700g lean minced beef, lamb or pork

A glass of red wine

1 x 400g tin of tomatoes

1 teaspoon sugar

1 cinnamon stick

1 whole clove

1 bay leaf

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the béchamel

120g butter

120g flour

900ml milk, warmed

2 egg yolks

A pinch of nutmeg

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

100g Parmesan

For the pasta

350g macaroni or penne

110g feta, crumbled

2 eggs

Preheat the oven to 180°C.

Heat the olive oil in a pan. Stir in the onions and cook until they’ve softened. Stir in the garlic, the tomato purée and the mince. Continue to cook until the mince has browned, stirring. Pour in the wine and let it reduce. Then add the tomatoes, sugar, cinnamon, clove and bayleaf. Season carefully with the sea salt and black pepper. Bring to the boil and cover, turn down the heat and leave the sauce to simmer, stirring occasionally, for 30 minutes. When it’s done, remove the bayleaf, the cinnamon stick and the clove.

Meanwhile make the béchamel sauce. Melt the butter over a medium to low heat. Stir in the flour to make a roux, then add the warmed milk gradually, stirring so that no lumps form. Cook until the sauce thickens. Remove the pan from the heat and add the egg yolks, sea salt, black pepper, nutmeg and grated cheese. Stir thoroughly to blend the sauce together.

Cook the pasta for 2–3 minutes, to soften a little, then drain. Stir in the eggs and the crumbled feta.

Butter a large baking dish and assemble the pastitsio. Put in half of the pasta, top it with half of the meat sauce, then add the rest of the pasta, followed by the remaining meat sauce. Pour over the béchamel and smooth it to cover the meat.

Sprinkle over some grated Parmesan to cover, then bake for about 40 minutes, until the top is golden brown.

Let the dish rest a little before serving.