Greek Pastichio

Living within a Greek community for several years has introduced me to some of the most delicious foods from the Mediterranean. It may be the case that mere mention of Greek food conjures up images of lamb roasting on a spit and that is certainly part of Greek food but there is much more to it! The Greeks love their meat and on a good day, there is quite a queue at my local Greek butchers which, while also selling barbecue grills in summer, does a fine range, including lamb's head, poussins, Greek sausages, sheftalia and even pheasants whenever it is the season!

The local cafes and restaurants that serve Greek food are exceedingly good, so much so that on a recent trip to Cyprus, it became evident that I get much better food in North London than in the Cypriot restaurants. I recently discovered this Pastichio dish, also called 'Macaronia tou Fornou', considered Greek lasagna, which has layers of macaroni, minced meat and bechamel sauce. A simpler version is to just cook the meat separately and mix it with the cooked macaroni after cooking, which I prefer as it's quicker and, although easy to make, no fussy bechamel sauce. This is a dish that can be rustled up in a few minutes if doing the simpler version or if you prefer the lasagna version, can be slow-cooked to perfection. Note though, I haven't seen Pastichio served in restaurants, it is more of a home-cooked dish.

I will give you the simpler version.

Greek Pastichio (Serves 2)

Ingredients: 

1/2 pack of the long macaroni (broken in 2-3 equal lengths)
400g mince meat (preferably pork, but lamb can also be used)
Olive oil
1 red onion (chopped)
2-3 gloves garlic (crushed)
300g or 3/4 can chopped tomato
Huge bunch of parsley (chopped)
A few sprigs of thyme
A thumb-size piece of cinnamon stick
2 bay leaves
1 vegetable stock cube
Water
Salt and pepper

Method:

In a large pan, cover the pasta with boiling water and leave to cook until 'al dente', that is, cooked with a slight bite. You will know if it is overcooked if it becomes mushy. The general rule for cooking pasta is until 'al dente'. One trick is to take a piece of pasta out of the pan and throw it on the wall. If it sticks, then it's cooked. I know for a fact this works with spaghetti but remains to be seen with other pasta. Once cooked, drain and keep aside.

Heat some olive oil in a pan, add the onions and let them cook until they become slightly translucent. Add the garlic and minced meat. Break the meat into pieces with a wooden spoon and let it brown well. Add the thyme and crush the stock cube over the meat.

Once the meat has browned, add the tomatoes, cinnamon stick, bay leaves, salt, pepper and the parsley. The parsley is the vital ingredient in this dish so be generous. Add the chopped stalks as well as this will cook and add flavour. Mix it well. Add some water and leave to simmer. Note that this should not become a tomatoey sauce as you would cook an Italian pasta dish, you want it become dry.

Continue stirring. Once all the water has evaporated, turn off the heat and mix it with the cooked pasta. Serve with a sprinkling of cheese.