PASTITSIO (GREEK LASAGNA) PART ONE.

PASTISIO (GREEK LASAGNA).
PART ONE.
Ingredients.
1/2 kilo (1 lb.) of lean ground beef.
5 ripe tomatoes blended in the food processor.
1 large onion (chopped in small pieces).
olive oil for cooking.
Salt, pepper, garlic, all spice, sugar.
1 box of pastitsio # 2 noodles or a box of rigatoni noodles.
Butter.
Eggs.
Bésamel sauce.
Semolina flour or all-purpose flour.
2 cups of 2% milk.
Butter.
Eggs.
Parmesan cheese.
Salt.

Good morning, guys. Today we are going to make pastitsio which is Greek Lasagna. This is not low-fat dish but I’m going to make it low-fat. It’s very delicious and we usually have it as a main meal on Sundays and on special occasions. I’m having all my ingredients ready right here. I’m going to start making my sauce, my pasta sauce. I also going to boil my noodles for only 5 minutes. No longer than that. We go from there. I already brown my meat, drained the grease. I’m going to add my onions; one large onion chopped in small pieces. Add some olive oil. Stir it well. While I sauté the onions I’m going to add my noodles. I already boiled my water. These are the noodles I use: Number #2 pastitsio noodles. In the States you don’t have these types of noodles. You can use mostaccioli or rigatoni. They are very thick. I’m only going to boil them for 5 minutes. Make sure you stir them once in a while, so they don’t get stuck together. Turn down the heat. I had it on high. I’m going to turn it down to medium. You don’t want your noodles all the way cooked because they are going to be cooked in the oven. Now I’m going to add my tomato sauce, which is 5 medium size ripe tomatoes blended on my food processor. I added a little bit of water, about 1 cup of water. Stir it. Add some salt. Put as much as you like. I usually use sea salt. A dash of this, pepper, some garlic powder, or about 5 garlic cloves chopped up (crushed). Excuse me for a second. It’s very windy outside so my door is start slamming. Some all spice, just a dash of that. And a tablespoon of sugar. Stir everything. Let it come to a boil and I’m going to reduce my heat to medium-low. Stir your noodles so they don’t get stuck. Now about my baking pan. I’m going to grease my baking pan with a little bit of olive oil. Just get everything ready. I don’t use cooking spray. We don’t have cooking sprays here. They are banned because of the chemicals. I want to mention something. This olive oil is only for cooking. It’s not the olive oil we use for salads. Okay. I’m going to turn down the heat for my pasta sauce to medium-low and let it cook for about 30 minutes (or until it absorbs most of the water). Now I’m going to drain the water from my noodles, turn off the heat, wash them with cold water. Drain the excess water. Now, I’m going to melt some butter, a half a stick. This is fresh butter. Remove the pan from heat and place the noodles back into the pan. Stir well so the butter can do throughout the noodles. Cover and let it sit till we finish with all the ingredients. I’ll see you in a little while.