The pastitsio is Greece's answer to a lasagne, and this recipe from Magma Soul Santorini is made with beef cheeks, pasta, and a deliciously light yet creamy tasting béchamel foam. Every delicious bite is sure to transport you to the gorgeous island of Santorini.
Ingredients
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
- 1kg beef cheeks, cleaned
- 200g onions, finely chopped
- 100g carrots, cut into small cubes
- 100g celery, cut into small cubes
- 100g leeks, chopped
- 1 sprig of thyme
- 1 clove of garlic, crushed
- 1 bay leaf
- 30ml white dry wine
- 20g ginger, sliced
- 20g tomato pulp
- 200g demi-glace chicken broth
- Salt/pepper
- 40g olive oil
For the Béchamel foam:
- 50g flour
- 50g butter
- 1 litre milk
- Salt/white pepper
For the assembly:
- 200g cooked pasta
- 20g butter
- 60g meat with sauce
- 20g chicken broth
- whole nutmeg
- Parmesan
- salt
Method
- Melt the butter over a medium heat.
- Add the flour and mix quickly using a hand whisk, stirring until the mixture becomes liquidy without lumps.
- Add the milk and whisk quickly.
- Pass the mixture through a blender, strain through a fine sieve, and transfer to a whipping siphon.
- Charge the mixture with 2 cartridges to create a foam (you can skip this siphon step at home).
- Mix the pasta in a pan with a little butter and salt.
- Heat the cheeks with the sauce and add a little chicken broth.
- Place the pasta in a deep plate, top with the cheeks and sauce, and finish with the béchamel foam.
- Sprinkle with freshly grated nutmeg and parmesan.
Sign up for The Week's Food & Drink newsletter for recipes, reviews and recommendations.
-
The EU’s war on fast fashionIn the Spotlight Bloc launches investigation into Shein over sale of weapons and ‘childlike’ sex dolls, alongside efforts to tax e-commerce giants and combat textile waste
-
How to Get to Heaven from Belfast: a ‘highly entertaining ride’The Week Recommends Mystery-comedy from the creator of Derry Girls should be ‘your new binge-watch’
-
The 8 best TV shows of the 1960sThe standout shows of this decade take viewers from outer space to the Wild West
-
The 8 best TV shows of the 1960s
The standout shows of this decade take viewers from outer space to the Wild West
-
The year’s ‘it’ vegetable is a versatile, economical wonderthe week recommends How to think about thinking about cabbage
-
The biggest box office flops of the 21st centuryin depth Unnecessary remakes and turgid, expensive CGI-fests highlight this list of these most notorious box-office losers
-
Mail incoming: 9 well-made products to jazz up your letters and cardsThe Week Recommends Get the write stuff
-
The 8 best superhero movies of all timethe week recommends A genre that now dominates studio filmmaking once struggled to get anyone to take it seriously
-
One great cookbook: Joshua McFadden’s ‘Six Seasons of Pasta’the week recommends The pasta you know and love. But ever so much better.
-
How to navigate dating apps to find ‘the one’The Week Recommends Put an end to endless swiping and make real romantic connections
-
February TV brings the debut of an adult animated series, the latest batch of ‘Bridgerton’ and the return of an aughts sitcomthe week recommends An animated lawyers show, a post-apocalyptic family reunion and a revival of a hospital comedy classic
