Pastitsio: Greek Casserole with a Homey Flavor

Sometimes all of Greece fits into a single baking dish. Pastitsio is the dish that appears on the table when the family gathers, voices hum, and the sunny island breeze blows outside the windows.

This is not just a recipe - it is a tradition passed down with warmth, oil, spices and time. And today in the Aegean Notebooks - this is exactly the case. We are preparing pastitsio as they do in Corfu, with real olive oil, which comes from a small farm with a view of the sea.

🫒 What's inside:

For the meat sauce:

• 450 g minced meat (beef or lamb)

• 1 onion, 2 cloves of garlic

• 400 g tomatoes + 2 tbsp tomato paste

• 120 ml red wine (depending on your mood)

• a pinch of cinnamon, oregano, salt, pepper

For pasta:

• 450 g penne or other firm pasta

• 2 tbsp. spoons extra virgin olive oil

• salt

For the béchamel:

• 4 tbsp oil

• 30 g flour

• 500 ml milk

• 2 eggs

• nutmeg, salt, pepper

How to prepare:

1. In the quiet of the kitchen, sauté onions and garlic in extra virgin olive oil

2. Add minced meat and simmer until golden brown.

3. Tomatoes, paste, spices – and 25 minutes of gentle simmering.

4. At the same time, cook the pasta until al dente.

5. Mix with olive oil to let it absorb the aroma.

6. Prepare the béchamel: butter, flour, milk, spices, then eggs. Gently, with attention.

7. We assemble it in a form: pasta → sauce → pasta → béchamel.

8. Bake at 175°C for about an hour. Until golden, homemade crust.

And then - let the pastitsio sit for a bit. Let it calm down, settle down, remind you that what is important is not in a hurry.

💛 Pastitsio is when Sunday smells not like a weekend, but like home. It's about care that comes in layers, like pasta, meat and cream. It's about how one form can hold the entire Mediterranean Sea.