Pastitsio

Preparation time: 45 minutes
Baking time: 35 minutes
Total time: 1⅓ hours

This Greek casserole consists of rotini pasta, ground beef, and Mornay sauce layered together. Multitasking is key to preparing this recipe quickly.

Ingredients

Pasta:

• 8-10 ounces rotini pasta
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 eggs

Beef:

• 1 onion
• 2 tablespoons oil
• 1½ pounds ground beef
• 8 ounces tomato sauce
• 1 teaspoon salt
• dash of cinnamon

Mornay sauce:

• 2 cups milk
• 3 tablespoons margarine
• ¼ cup flour
• ⅓ cup parmesan cheese
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon pepper
• dash of nutmeg

Also:

• 8 ounces cheddar cheese

Directions

Pasta:

1. Boil pasta in water until it's almost soft, then drain.
2. Add the butter and eggs, and stir until the butter melts and the eggs mix in thoroughly.

Beef:

1. Chop up the onion, then sauté with oil in a large pan.
2. Crumble the ground beef into the pan, and cook until only a little pink still shows. Drain off the fat with a seive, then return to pan but keep off heat.
3. Mix in the tomato sauce, salt, and cinnamon.

Mornay sauce:

1. Microwave milk for two minutes, for later use.
2. Melt butter in a small pot over medium heat.
3. When butter has melted, stir in flour.
4. Off heat, whisk the milk into the pot. Return to heat and stir constantly until the sauce thickens and begins to boil, then remove it from the stove promptly.
5. Add parmesan cheese, salt, pepper, and nutmeg.

Layering:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
2. Grease a 2½ quart baking pan.
3. Spread ½ the pasta evenly into the bottom of the pan. Then add the meat, and sprinkle half the cheddar cheese over it. Next add the remaining pasta, followed by the mornay sauce. Sprinkle remaining cheddar cheese on top, followed by a little nutmeg, and shake lightly to settle the layers.
4. Bake for 30-40 minutes.