Pastitsio II Recipe

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add ziti and cook until tender yet firm to the bite 8 to 10 minutes.

Melt butter until golden brown and pour over ziti add Parmesan cheese nutmeg salt and pepper. Toss well. Cool briefly. Add eggs and toss again; set aside.

To make meat sauce: Gently fry onion and garlic in butter in a skillet until onion is soft 3 to 5 minutes. Increase heat and add ground beef; stir well. Cook until meat begins to brown about 5 minutes. Add tomato paste wine broth parsley salt and pepper. Cover and simmer over low heat for 20 minutes.

To make cream sauce: Melt butter in saucepan stir in flour and cook gently for 2 minutes. Pour in milk all at once and bring to a boil stirring constantly. Boil gently for 1 minute. Add nutmeg salt and pepper. Cool slightly before stirring in beaten egg. Transfer 1/2 cup of this sauce to the meat sauce.

To assemble pastitsio: Grease a 9x13-inch baking dish. Spoon half of the prepared ziti evenly in the bottom and top with meat sauce. Top with remaining ziti. Pour on cream sauce and spread to completely cover ziti. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese on top.

Bake in a preheated oven for 50 minutes or until golden brown. Let stand 10 minutes before cutting into squares.