Pastitsi---Oh What The Hell......

A few months ago, a friend and coworker of mine shared a dish that she had made called pastitsio. Its a greek dish that has ground beef, veal, or lamb in it, with cinnamon and nutmeg. Its put over pasta, with a bechamel sauce and tomatoes and then baked like lasagna. Well, tonight I was at a loss with what to do with the ground beef that I had pulled out, and decided...What the hell....I'll just make the pastitsio.

I facebooked my friend, because I forgot about the tomatoes. Of course, at this point, I was committed to the pastitsio, because I had already cinnamoned up the beef.  Well, during all of this, I was talking to a realtor about a house that I found in Avon. So, I was in the cabinet looking for chopped tomatoes, since I didn't have any fresh ones....while on the phone with the realtor....while the ground beef/pasta was cooking, yadayadayada. Recipe for problems I tell you!

Anyway, I digress.

So, I decided that I would make my own spin on pastitsio, so I cannot really call it pastitsio, because it would be criminal for me to. Anyway, what I ended up with (with help from Billy making the bechamel sauce) is below. Layered ziti with ground beef and bechamel, then baked with some parmesan and asiago cheese grated on top. Then, when served, I put a crushed tomatoes with basil.

Not exactyl what I planned. Billy said it was ok, but was lacking flavor to the bechamel sauce. So, its a work in progress, but as I just said to my friend jenn, the chef, and all knowing of cooking related things....I can't call it pastitsio, because it was missing some important elements and structure. BUT...in my defense, not bad in 45 minutes, while on the phone with a realtor, and totally without a recipe.


Thanks Jenn, for turning me onto this delicious dish. Maybe next time I won't screw it up. :-)...and I can actually call it pastitsio.