Pastitsio — Layered Ground Beef & Pasta Bake

Ingredients

• 8 oz bucatini or thick tubular pasta
• 12 oz Ground Beef
• 1 onion, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 tbsp tomato paste
• 1 can (14 oz) chopped tomatoes
• ½ cup red wine
• 1 cinnamon stick and ¼ tsp ground allspice
• 5 tbsp butter
• 5 tbsp flour
• 2½ cups warm milk
• 2 egg yolks
• 1 cup grated kefalotyri or pecorino, divided
• Salt, black pepper, and grated nutmeg

Method

1. Brown the Ground Beef hard in a wide pan, then add the onion and garlic and cook 6 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste and fry 2 minutes, then the wine, tomatoes, cinnamon stick, and allspice. Simmer 25 minutes until thick and nearly dry — a wet meat layer will bleed into the béchamel.
2. Boil the pasta 2 minutes short of the package time, drain, and toss with a third of the cheese and a knob of butter so the strands stay separate.
3. Melt the butter, whisk in the flour, and cook 2 minutes without letting it color. Add the warm milk in three additions, whisking each smooth, and simmer until it thickly coats a spoon, 6–8 minutes. Off the heat, beat in the yolks, half the remaining cheese, nutmeg, salt, and pepper.
4. Heat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Spread half the pasta in a buttered dish, lay the meat sauce over (cinnamon stick removed), then the rest of the pasta, laying the tubes in the same direction so it slices cleanly.
5. Pour the béchamel over, level it, and scatter the last cheese. Bake 45–50 minutes until the top is deeply golden and set enough not to wobble.
6. Rest a full 20 minutes before cutting. Cut it hot and it collapses into a delicious mess — which is a fine outcome, just not the one you wanted.