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
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
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.
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
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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I love things that I can make ahead like this. I am always running around after school with the kids, so I could make this while they are at school & dinner would be all ready when we got home!
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!
My cousin married a man who came straight from Greece, and she makes this sometimes. It’s really fabulous!
I’ve definitely never heard of that, but it looks SO good! I love everything in it, so I’m sure I would enjoy it. Adding it to my list to make!
That looks like a great dish.
This looks and sounds so delicious!
I love pastitsio and I used to make it years ago. It is always a huge hit. So delicious.
YUM!! Can’t wait to try it. Beautiful photo!
Pinned – this looks delicious and easy!
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!
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.
This looks awesome!
Yum, this is making me so hungry! I want to try this dish next week!!
This looks absolutely delicious, it’s definitely something I need to try. Thank you for sharing this recipe.
Never heard of this but it sure looks yummy!
Ooh we love pastitsio and spanakopita. My daughter’s fiance worked at a Greek restaurant for a while and he always brought those home.
This casserole can really fit into my weekly meal plan and give us something new to add. I love surprising my fam with new dishes, and Iove Greek food.
oooh, I have never heard of pastitsio but it sounds wonderful. We will have to give this a try…
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!
That looks delicious!! I’m going to give this a try sometime.
My husband loves Greek food! I will have to make this for him!
I’ve been so busy, I have been looking for more and more dishes to make ahead! Your recipes sounds so good! I need to try it!
This looks SUPER yummy! Thanks so much for sharing!
Oh this looks amazing!
this looks so decadent. I like how you used reduced fat items. Makes it a little healtheir
It sounds like a yummy dish. I will be making it soon.
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!
oh that looks tasty, I do not think I have ever had greek food other than a Gyro!
My mom loves Greek food also – it’s her favorite! I’ll have to attempt this and invite her over for dinner!
This sounds so good! I haven’t heard of a casserole quite like this, I am gonna have to make this!! Man it looks and sounds amazing!!!
This looks so hearty and comforting. I love the spices in it!
This sounds like a dish my friends mother used to make. It was great! I can’t wait to try your recipe. Thanks!
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!
This Looks So delicious I Can’t Wait To Try!!!
This look so delicious! I will have to try this recipe for sure!
This made me so hungry. I like Greek food and didn’t know they did pastas. This is great. I’m keeping this tabbed!
I have never eaten any Greek food but this looks delicious! I may have to try this one!!
This is a Greek dish I have never seen before. It looks wonderful and like an easy dinner solution too!
This looks yummy, I’ll have to give it a shot. This is something my kids would like!
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.
Ack! Thanks so much for catching that Jo-Ann! It’s been fixed.
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!
That looks really delicious. The only Greek food, other than desserts, that I have had would be gyros.
I need to get one of those casserole dishes so I can make this. Looks amazing.
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. 🙂
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’ 😛
MMM that looks so good. I love Greek dishes.
That looks really, really good. Thanks for sharing this recipe. I may try it this week while the kids are on spring break.
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 !!
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