Pasta forno/pastichio
Ingredients
500 grams penne pasta
Ragu sauce (Bolognese)
500 grams beef mince
One large onion
100 grams tomato paste
One splash of red wine
One cinnamon stick (optional)
Four hundred gram can of crushed tomatoes
Four hundred grams of passata sauce
Olive oil
2tsp salt
pinch of sugar
Béchamel sauce (mornay sauce)
Eighty grams butter
Eighty grams all purpose flour
500 grams milk
Fifty grams Vlaha Kefalograviera cheese
Twenty grams goats cheese
20 grams pecorino cheese
2 tsp salt
Method
Begin by browning the beef mince in a stainless pan with olive oil and salt. Add finely diced onions to the browned beef and cook for five minutes or until slightly translucent. Add the tomato paste into the pan, mix until evenly incorporated, add the pinch of sugar. allow the tomato paste to cook for 3 minutes or until it has slightly turned into a darker shade of red. Add the splash of red wine, allow the alcohol to cook out for 2 minutes, the flavour will remain! Add the can of crushed tomato’s alongside the tomato passata sauce. Allow to simmer for fifteen to twenty minutes on a low heat. set aside
Boil the pasta until al dente, strain and coat with a splash of olive oil and set aside
For the mornay sauce begin by melting down butter in a regular sized saucepan, once fully melted add the flour and mix until it forms a homogeneous mixture. This is the roux. Add a splash of the milk and mix until incorporated, continue doing this until you have used up all your milk. grate all three cheeses listed and add to the sauce, whisk until melted and evenly incorporated.
Add the cooked pasta into a big mixing bowl (big enough to accommodate the sauce and pasta) and mix the sauce and pasta together. Add the pasta to a casserole dish and finally add the mornay sauce on top, roughly fold the two components together. Top with an extra sprinkle of cheese and place into a hot oven (200 degrees) for 5 minutes or until the top layer of cheese becomes crispy.
Serve and enjoy!