Pastitsio Recipe – Macaroni de forno | Greek Pasta Bake

Pastitsio Recipe – Macaroni de forno | Greek Pasta Bake

Pastitsio is a typical Greek Cypriot pasta bake also known as Macaroni de forno.

Pastitsio or Macaroni de forno or whatever you want to call it is a wonderful creamy and meaty Greek pasta bake that can be served hot or cold.

Pastitsio (or Macaroni de forno) is a dish to share and once you’ve gone Greek pasta bake you won’t turn back! 

Like most pastitsio recipes (or macaroni de forno recipes) there are a thousand variations normally stemming from a plethora of small villages all having slightly different traditions of making their own pastitsio.

This my version of a Michaels’ family favourite! Pastitsio is quite often part of a meze cut into smaller sizes for people to grab and served at room temperature.

Macaroni de forno translates to pasta in the oven; the original Greek pasta bake!

Pastitsio or Macaroni de forno is a bit like bread – usually served at room temperature but by God it is delicious when hot out of the oven!

Want more Greek recipes? Or sticking to just pasta recipes?

Makes 1 large baking tray to serve about 10-12 people

Pastitsio Recipe - Macaroni de forno | A Cypriot Recipe

14th February 2014
: 8
: easy

Pastitsio Recipe or Macaroni de forno goes well with a Greek salad, a dozen other mezedes and preferably surrounded by an extremely loud and hospitable Greek family (NB. they don't have to be your family - any Greek family will do).

By:

Ingredients
  • Pasta & Meat (base)
  • 1 onion diced
  • 500g pork mince
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • Couple of sticks of cinnamon (about 2 inches long)
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 2 tbsp of dried oregano (ideally Greek but any dried variety will work)
  • Olive oil
  • 1 large tomato diced
  • Seasoning
  • 15g parsley chopped
  • Pasta - three handfuls of long Pastitsio pasta tubes (if not, Penne will work)
  • Bechamel Sauce:
  • 4 tbsp butter
  • 4 tbsp plain flour
  • 2 pints milk
  • Handful of grated cheese (feta or cheddar will work)
Directions
  • Step 1 Cook pasta in salted boiling water and remove just before it is done (it will cook in the oven as well).
  • Step 2 While pasta is boiling make base – season the pork mince and fry until cooked then strain off any fat and set aside.
  • Step 3 In the same pan fry the onions till golden in olive oil, add the tomato, oregano, cinnamon, bay leaves and season.
  • Step 4 Once cooked through add the pork mince and mix together.
  • Step 5 Once the pasta is just done, drain and pour in the mince meat into the pan and mix – you will now have a fairly dry mixture of pasta and pork mince. Taste and add more seasoning if needed.
  • Step 6 Now make your bechamel sauce.
  • Step 7 Melt the butter in a saucepan, add the flour and mix thoroughly on a low/medium heat for a few moments.
  • Step 8 Then slowly add a little milk at a time and keep mixing until you have enough to half fill whatever roasting dish you are going to use (don’t panic if you have some lumps they won’t be noticeable in the finished dish), remove from the heat and let cool for a few moments.
  • Step 9 Now assemble your Pastitsio
  • Step 10 pour the pasta meat mix into the base of a roasting dish (you want it 3/4 of the way up the baking dish).
  • Step 11 Then gently pour the bechamel sauce over the top, season again.
  • Step 12 (If you want
  • Step 13 you can freeze it at this stage
  • Step 14 or if you can’t wait – cook it!)
  • Step 15 Stick in a pre-heated oven at 180c degrees for about 30 mins or until the top has turned a lovely brown golden colour. Remove from the oven and let set for 20 mins before serving.

 


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3 thoughts on “Pastitsio Recipe – Macaroni de forno | Greek Pasta Bake”

  • My neighbour here in Lasa in the hills above Pafos makes this regularly and calls me to go and collect my portion. It’s fabulous and pastitsio was one of my first words in Greek.

    • Hey Steve, that’s brilliant and typical Greek that the first word you learnt was a macaroni dish! 🙂 I presume the second word was Keo?! 🙂

      • Hospitality of the Greeks and cypiots is legendary, what a wonderful neighbour you have, must go and book my next holiday which greek island should i go to this year!

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