Pasta bake (pastitsio) with mushroom mince
The happiness of the Greek family always started with the pot, and pastitsio has always been a Sunday and holiday food for the Orthodox Greek table. Next is a fasting and monastic version of the classic pastitsio from Mount Athos, in which the meat has been replaced by mushrooms and vegetables and its bechamel is of course fasting. This pastitsio from Mount Athos may be little more complicated than the classic, but it is worth trying because its healthy and does not lag behind the taste. An ideal monks recipe for those who want to lighten the burden of fasting and for those who follow a vegetarian diet.
We prepare the minced mushrooms. For the minced meat recipe look at here.
We put the pasta in salted water, but boil it 2-3 minutes less than what the package says, because it will be cooked in the oven afterwards.
At the same time, we grate the yellow cheese and the feta and let them aside.
We strain the penne and sprinkle them with a little raw olive oil.
Then, we prepare the bechamel. For the bechamel recipe look here.
We preheated the oven to 180 degrees and start assembling the pastitsio.
We spread some bechamel on the pan and pour a layer of pasta on top.
We sprinkle with half the cheeses, scatter some more bechamel and then spread half the minced meat.
Then, we spread the rest of the penne, sprinkle with the rest of the cheeses and top with the rest of the minced meat.
Finally, we spread all the rest of the bechamel on the pan and bake the pastry for about half an hour.
The quantity given in the recipe for minced mushrooms is large and if you use a small pyrex for your pastitsio, then you will have leftover mince meat.
If you have leftover mince you can either put it in the freezer to eat it another time with pasta or use it in another preparation such as a mince pie or a pizza with mince.
