Greek Pastitsio and Baked Ziti in one pan to make a new favorite!

Greek Pastitsio & Baked Ziti in one pan!

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This is my outstanding Greek twist on classic Italian baked ziti. It’s literally pastitsio smashed together with baked ziti to make one comforting and fantastic dish. Greek pastitsio is layers of pastitsio pasta, meat sauce, cheese, and creamy bechamel sauce. It’s a regular at any Greek dinner party. Italian baked ziti is layers of ziti pasta, homemade red sauce with Italian sausage, and three types of cheese. To make both easier, I cook some penne, make a meat sauce and a bechamel sauce, and then bring it all together in a baking dish. It makes perfectly cooked pasta in a creamy meat sauce topped with stringy mozzarella. It’s out of this world delicious!

Why this may be better than pastitsio

Perfectly soft noodles

Creamy, rich tomato sauce

Meaty beef

Gooey, stringy mozzarella

It’s the perfect creamy, meaty, cheesy noodle smash-up of pastitsio and baked ziti!

Everything you need

Penne -or ziti pasta
Shredded mozzarella cheese -from a block for the best melting

For the Meat Sauce:

Ground beef
Onion -finely chopped
Olive oil -Try the one in our shop from my family’s olive trees in Crete!
Garlic cloves -grated or minced
Crushed tomatoes
Salt
Freshly cracked black pepper
Ground cinnamon
Dried oregano

For the Béchamel Sauce:

Olive oil
All-purpose flour
Milk
Salt
Black pepper
Ground nutmeg
Eggs
Shredded Parmesan cheese

How to make Greek Pastitsio Baked Ziti

Preheat the oven to 400 °F, 200 °C.
Bring a pot of salted water to a boil, add the pasta, and cook according to the package’s instructions.
Save 2 cups of the pasta water while draining.
Transfer the pasta to a 9 x 13-inch baking dish and season with salt, pepper, and dried oregano.

Make the meat sauce:

Cook the onion and olive oil in a pot over medium heat until soft and golden.
Add the garlic and warm through until fragrant.
Then, add the ground beef to the pot and cook until no longer pink.
Season with salt, pepper, and cinnamon and stir together.
Add the crushed tomatoes and a cup of water.
Cook over medium-high heat until the sauce has thickened -about 25 minutes.
Add the oregano and remove from the heat.

Make the Bechamel Sauce:

Add the oil and flour to a saucepan, whisk together, and cook over medium heat until toasted.
Whisk in the milk, salt, pepper, and nutmeg.
Cook while constantly whisking until the mixture comes to a boil and thickens.
Remove from the heat.
Whisk the eggs together in a separate bowl and add a bit of the hot milk to temper while constantly whisking.
Add the eggs to the pot along with the parmesan cheese and stir together.

Assemble the Dish:

Add the meat sauce to the pasta along with 1-2 cups of the pasta water.
Then, add the bechamel sauce and mix everything together.
Top with the shredded mozzarella cheese.
Bake on the center rack of the preheated oven for 25 minutes or until the top layer of cheese has browned.
Pull it out of the oven and rest for 10-15 minutes.

Here’s how to make Classic Pastitsio:

Serving

I like to leave this in the oven until the top layer of mozzarella looks like a perfectly cooked pizza. It should have little areas of perfectly browned cheese. Once you pull it out of the oven, letting it sit for a bit allows the whole thing to settle. My family prefers it to be a little saucy, so I don’t let it sit for more than fifteen minutes. Plus, the mozzarella is still perfectly pizza stringy. My only warning is that your family may want to ditch the pastitsio and baked ziti for this. Kali Orexi!

Greek Pastitsio Baked Ziti

Yield: serves 12

Ingredients

1 pound penne or ziti pasta
8 oz shredded mozzarella cheese

For the Meat Sauce:

2 pounds ground beef
1 onion, finely chopped
1/4 cup olive oil
5 garlic cloves, grated
30 oz crushed tomatoes
salt, to taste
freshly cracked black pepper, to taste
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon dried oregano

For the Béchamel Sauce:

1/3 cup olive oil
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
4 cups milk
salt, to taste
black pepper, to taste
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 eggs
1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 400 °F, 200 °C.

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil, add the pasta and cook according to the package's instructions. Save 2 cups of the pasta water. Transfer the pasta to a 9 by 13-inch baking dish. Season with salt, pepper, and dried oregano.

Make the meat sauce: Add the onion and olive oil to a pot and cook over medium heat until soft and golden. Add the garlic and warm through until fragrant. Add the ground beef to the pot and cook until no longer pink. Season with salt, pepper, and cinnamon. Mix together. Add the crushed tomatoes and a cup of water. Cook over medium-high heat until the sauce has thickened. About 25 minutes. Add the oregano and remove from the heat.

Make the Bechamel Sauce: Add the oil and flour to a saucepan, whisk together and cook over medium heat until toasted. Add the milk, salt, pepper, and nutmeg and whisk together. Cook and continue to whisk it together until the mixture comes to a boil and thickens. Remove from the heat. Whisk the eggs together in a bowl and add some of the hot milk to temper them. Whisk together and add the eggs to the pot along with the parmesan cheese. Mix together.

Assemble the Dish: Add the meat sauce to the pasta along with 1-2 cups of the pasta water. Add teh bechamel sauce and mix everything together. Top with the shredded mozzarella cheese. Bake on the center rack of the preheated oven for 25 minutes.

Kali Orexi!

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Greek Pastitsio Baked Ziti

Watch the Video:

Why this may be better than pastitsio

Everything you need

For the Meat Sauce:

For the Béchamel Sauce:

How to make Greek Pastitsio Baked Ziti

Make the meat sauce:

Make the Bechamel Sauce:

Here’s how to make Classic Pastitsio:

Serving