Greek cuisine .What is your favorite?

[Angelo]

One of my favorites Pastitio

List of Ingredients


1 1/2 cup elbo macaroni

1 egg, beaten

1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese

1/4 cup milk

1 pound ground beef

1/2 cup chopped onion

8 ounces tomato sauce

1/2 teaspooon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

3 Tablespoons butter or margarine

3 Tablespoons flour

1 1/2 cups milk

1 egg beaten

1/4 cup parmesan cheese


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[beata]

Pastitsio, the Greek version of lasagne
For the mince mixture, you need:
1 kilo of lean mince (pork, beef or a mixture - lamb mince is never used in Hania) - fatty mince will simply not reduce enough to get that dry consistency which is needed for pastitsio or moussaka1/4 cup olive oil
1 large onion
3-4 cloves of garlic
1/2 glass of wine
1 eggplant AND/OR 1 large carrot AND/OR 2 bells peppers AND/OR 3 large mushrooms. all finely chopped (this is purely my novel twist to the classic recipe - how else do you get children to eat their veges?)
1/2 kilo of fresh tomatos, pureed (tinned ones do nicely when fresh tomatos aren't available, and just recently, I've been buying organically grown tinned tomatos, which smell and taste as good as fresh summer ones)
1 teaspoon of tomato paste
salt, pepper, oregano to taste

For the macaroni you need:
500g fat macaroni with a hole in the middle (as a guide, I use Barilla No 10)
250g grated cheese (regato is excellent; gouda or edam are also good choices)
salt and pepper to taste
Boil a large pot of water and add the macaroni as the water boils. Cook it till al dente, and drain it well. (If anyone knows of a foolproof method to boil macaroni without sticking to each other, and without having to resort to using a cauldron, or cooking it up in small batches, do let me know; a few drops of oil do not seem to do the trick.) Sprinkle it with salt and plenty of freshly ground pepper. Pour the macaroni into a big baking dish. Sprinkle the grated cheese into the cooked pasta, so that it melts with the heat from the macaroni. Now pour over the cooked mince and mix it into the macaroni. Here is my favorite part of the recipe: if you think there is too much mince mixture to add it all to the macaroni, put the remaining mixture into a container and deep-freeze it. The next time you want to eat spaghetti bolognaise, all you will have to do is defrost it, boil up the spaghetti, and voilà, another simple meal for a busy schedule.


For the bechamel sauce, you need:
2 cups of milk
2 tablespoons of flour
2 teaspoons of butter
1 egg AND/OR some grated cheese (these two ingredients are optional - the sauce is thicker and fattier if you include them)
grated nutmeg to taste
This sauce makes a thin covering for a large oven tin of pastitsio. Most people would use up to double the milk, flour and butter for a heavier sauce. We prefer a lighter sauce; whether you double the sauce is up to you.
This sauce is also exactly the same one used for moussaka and papoutsakia. You can also nake the sauce saving yourself time and hassle by using the same pot that you used to cook the mince. It also gives the sauce a meaty taste.
Mix the milk, flour and butter together in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the beaten egg and/or cheese if you wish to use them. Mix the sauce till it thickens. Don't leave the pot at this stage, as the sauce might stick to the bottom. Once the sauce starts to set, pour it evenly over the mince and pasta. Sprinkle some grated cheese over the top of the sauce for a crustier taste (that is, if you didn't already add any into the white sauce). Grate some nutmeg over the sauce; the aroma is intoxicating! I grated the nutmeg straight into the sauce, because I didn;t want the little boy, the big boy and the little girl asking me: "What are those black things on the macaroni, Mum?"

Cook the lasagne in a medium oven for an hour. The ingredients were all essentially cooked before going into the oven, so they only need to blend in with each other. When the pastitsio is done (the top will have taken on a golden colour), leave it to cool before cutting, so that it is allowed to set to a point that makes the dish easy to cut and serve. Cutting it when it is still hot will only spoil its appearance, making it less appetising. If the pastitsio is mainly for freezing, make sure it has cooled right down before cutting it. Have a freshly cut lettuce salad ready to accompany it. Kids and adults alike will love this meal. The big deep tapsi (the Greek word for an oven dish) makes enough pastitsio for 12-14 servings. Funnily enough, my mother hardly ever made this meal, because she preferred spag bog, although her sister, my aunt who lived across the road made it regularly. On her last visit, she even cooked one for me in my house. That's why I always associate pastitsio with my aunt, and I dedicate this post to her.

[Prokomenos]

Besides mousaka pastitsio is another favorite meal of mine.

[half greek]

Anything without Cheese in it.

[beata]

Fasolada - bean soup

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You need:
400g dry white navy (haricot) beans
1/2 cup of olive oil
1 large onion, grated
2-3 cloves of garlic, minced
a small bunch (like a posy) of celery, chopped finely
a few sprigs of parsley, chopped finely
2 medium carrots, sliced in thin rounds
500g fresh tomato, pulped
1 teaspoon of tomato paste
salt, pepper and oregano
Boil some water in a large pot and pour the beans in. Let them cook for five minutes, then drain the water away and wash the beans. Apparently, beans contain that can be eliminated by boiling them lightly in this way. You can use the same pot afterwards to heat the oil, and saute the onion and garlic in it. When they become translucent, add all the other ingredients (except the salt - it toughens dry beans and should be added towards the end of cooking time for best results) to the pot, and mix them into the oil. Add enough water to cover the pot with 3cm above the beans mixture and bring it to the boil. Cover the pot, turn the heat down to the minimum, and let the beans cook away for 1 1/2 hours. If, after that time, the beans are still too tough for your liking to eat, you might try changing brands; let the beans cook longer. I let the beans cook for at least two hours, because everyone in my house likes them super soft.