How to Make Pasticho by John E. Koniditsiotis

How to Make Pasticho by John Elias Koniditsiotis Preheat oven 350º Pan Measures: 10x18 inches, 2 inches deep Ingredients: Macaroni: 1 lb. Ground Beef: Approximately 4 lb. Olive Oil: 1 c for browning onions & garlic 1/8 c for blending in with macaroni 3/4 c for crema (Bechamel sauce) 3 Onions 4 Cloves of Garlic Salt, Black Pepper, Cinnamon, Cloves, Nutmeg, Allspice 15 oz Tomato Puree 1 Cup of Red Wine Optional Grated Cheese: 8 oz Milk: 8 c Flour: 2 c Eggs: 9 Boil Macaroni with salted water. Boil until macaroni is done. Drain & rinse macaroni. Spray pan and put macaroni in pan, add olive oil until macaroni is coated so that it does not stick together. In a skillet, add 1 c olive oil, then saute the chopped onions and garlic, mixing well, stirring and adding cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and allspice to your taste, with 1/2 teaspoon salt; 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Add ground beef and saute until browned. Add 15 oz tomato puree. Add 15 oz water. Keep stirring until ground beef is cooked thoroughly. Add 1 cup of red wine and continue stirring until beef mixture is thickened and somewhat dry. Beat one egg and pour into pan with macaroni, mix together. Spread the macaroni across the bottom of pan. Sprinkle plenty of grated cheese on macaroni. Spread ground meat evenly on the macaroni. Sprinkle more grated cheese on meat. Prepare the cream sauce in the same pan the ground meat was cooked in: Saute 2 cups of flour in 3/4 cup of olive oil, then add 8 cups of milk, mixing well. Beat 8 eggs, and add to the sauce. Stir until sauce gets thick then mix in grated cheese. Pour evenly over the top layer of the macaroni. Put in oven. Bake 30 mins. Turn pan and bake another 30 mins or until knife inserted comes out clean and top is golden brown. Once out of the oven, let cool for about an hour before serving. It needs to cool before cutting into squares, or it will fall apart. ΚΑΛΗ ΟΡΕΞΗ! BON APPETIT! GOOD APPETITE! Produced by Harry J Koniditsiotis