Greek Pastitsio Casserole Recipe - About A Mom

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Greek Pastitsio Casserole Recipe

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I love Greek food. There was this little Greek restaurant in Florida that I used to go to all the time with my daughters. Sadly, there aren’t any Greek restaurants near my home in Georgia. Oh, how I’ve missed it. Over the last few months my daughter and I have been recreating some of our Greek restaurant favorites at home. So far we’ve have made Baklava, Spanakopita, and Pumpkin Hummus. This past week I tackled a Greek dish that might be a little less known in the U.S. and made a Greek Pastitsio Casserole. My family gobbled up this hearty casserole with it’s flavorful cream sauce. It has the traditional Greek spices like cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice.

Greek Pastitsio Casserole

Greek Pastitsio Casserole

ingredients:

12 oz. penne pasta
1 1/2 lb. ground sirloin
1 ½ c. yellow or white onion, chopped (1 large onion)
1 ¾ tsp. salt, divided
1 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. Italian seasoning
6 garlic cloves, finely minced
2 T. all-purpose flour
8 oz. reduced-fat cream cheese
2 c. low-fat milk
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. allspice
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 (14.5 oz.) can diced tomatoes, drained
1 c. shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
2 T. chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Greek Pastitsio Casserole Recipe

directions:

Coat a 9X13-inch or equivalent baking dish with cooking spray and set aside. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large pot of lightly salted, boiling water, cook the penne pasta according to package directions.

While the pasta is cooking, heat a large 12-inch skillet over medium heat. Add beef or turkey to the pan with the diced onions and 1 teaspoon salt and pepper. Cook, stirring to break up the meat into small pieces, until the meat is cooked through. Drain excess grease from the meat. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, another minute or so.

Sprinkle the flour over the meat mixture, stirring to combine, and cook for 1-2 minutes over medium heat. Add the cream cheese in pieces, scattering it over the meat. Let it melt into the meat and stir to combine.

Whisk or stir in the milk, nutmeg, allspice, cinnamon, 3/4 teaspoon salt, Italian seasoning and tomatoes. Stir to combine and bring the mixture to a simmer. Cook 5-6 minutes until the mixture is slightly thickened and is thoroughly heated through.

Stir in the pasta and spoon the pasta mixture into the prepared pan. Sprinkle the mozzarella cheese evenly over the pasta and bake for 15 – 20 minutes, until the cheese is starting to brown (watching carefully so it doesn’t burn).

Remove from the oven and sprinkle with parsley. Let it stand for about 5 minutes before serving.

Greek Pastitsio Casserole

Note: You could use 1 pound of ground sirloin in the recipe. I just wanted mine extra meaty.

This recipe Greek Pastitsio Casserole is perfect to make on the weekend and have ready for a busy weeknight. You can easily make it ahead. Just assemble everything in the afternoon, and then put it in the oven to warm it through and melt the cheese at dinner time.

Greek Pastitsio Casserole Recipe
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Greek Pastitsio Casserole

Ingredients

  • 12 oz. penne pasta
  • 1 1/2 lb. ground sirloin
  • 1 ½ c. yellow or white onion, chopped (1 large onion)
  • 1 ¾ tsp. salt, divided
  • 1 tsp. pepper
  • 1 tsp. Italian seasoning
  • 6 garlic cloves, finely minced
  • 2 T. all-purpose flour
  • 8 oz. reduced-fat cream cheese
  • 2 c. low-fat milk
  • 1/4 tsp. nutmeg
  • 1/2 tsp. allspice
  • 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
  • 1 (14.5 oz.) can diced tomatoes, drained
  • 1 c. shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
  • 2 T. chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Instructions

Coat a 9X13-inch or equivalent baking dish with cooking spray and set aside. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large pot of lightly salted, boiling water, cook the penne pasta according to package directions.

While the pasta is cooking, heat a large 12-inch skillet over medium heat. Add beef or turkey to the pan with the diced onions and 1 teaspoon salt and pepper. Cook, stirring to break up the meat into small pieces, until the meat is cooked through. Drain excess grease from the meat. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, another minute or so.

Sprinkle the flour over the meat mixture, stirring to combine, and cook for 1-2 minutes over medium heat. Add the cream cheese in pieces, scattering it over the meat. Let it melt into the meat and stir to combine.

Whisk or stir in the milk, nutmeg, allspice, cinnamon, 3/4 teaspoon salt, Italian seasoning and tomatoes. Stir to combine and bring the mixture to a simmer. Cook 5-6 minutes until the mixture is slightly thickened and is thoroughly heated through.

Stir in the pasta and spoon the pasta mixture into the prepared pan. Sprinkle the mozzarella cheese evenly over the pasta and bake for 15 - 20 minutes, until the cheese is starting to brown (watching carefully so it doesn’t burn).

Remove from the oven and sprinkle with parsley. Let it stand for about 5 minutes before serving.

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Comments

  2. This looks so delish, I’ve been looking for a new casserole recipe to try out, I think I have a winner here. Thank you!

    Reply

  10. My mouth was watering reading this! I love casseroles and this looks creamy and delicious. And it has steak in it!! I love steak! Ok, it’s ground sirloin but I am substituting cube steak! Thanks for the recipe!

    Reply

  11. We don’t have any Greek restaurants near us either. Though I don’t eat much Greek food, I like it from what little I have tried. This looks really yummy and simple to make! I love penne pasta and I can always use new casserole recipe ideas! Thank you for sharing this.

    Reply

  16. Ooh we love pastitsio and spanakopita. My daughter’s fiance worked at a Greek restaurant for a while and he always brought those home.

    Reply

  19. I love it when I see something I want to make and I read the ingredients and I have ALL of them! Imagine my surprise when I read your list and saw that I have them all on hand. I will have to try this!

    Reply

  27. What a delicious recipe! I love all of the ingredients you used in this dish. My family would love to try this and possibly add it to our meal rotation!

    Reply

  33. I love Greek Food, and this recipe looks so delicious and I am going to make this for a Sunday dinner. I love all the ingredients!

    Reply

  40. This is a great recipe and I haven’t made it before . You said it also had cinnamon and allspice but didn’t give amounts in the recipe.

    Reply

  41. I live in the south, too, and finding ethnic food is difficult. I haven’t had Greek food in many years. Baklava was always my favorite!

    Reply

  44. I ~love~ Greek food, too. There’s a really nice one where I live, but it’s a bit pricey. I’m going to keep this recipe in mind. 🙂

    Reply

  45. I love Greek food too but have no idea how to cook any of it myself. The next time I see you in person, though, you’ll have to tell me how to pronounce this. I had to read the recipe title syllable by syllable but still can’t figure out how to say ‘patitsio’ 😛

    Reply

  48. This dish looks amazing! I also live in GA and have noticed a major lack of good Greek food, which I love too. I have only seen chain places and I prefer a small family run restaurant. Thanks for sharing !!

    Reply

  49. Thank you very much for posting this recipe. It would be easy to make vegetarian with veggie meat strips or seitan. Have a nice day <3

    Reply

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