With so many different pasta types available today, it is easy to get inventive when making a pasta dish. For this recipe, meatballs are prepared and then nestled into a bed of pasta. This dish is reminiscent of pastitsio with decadent and soft meatball bites within.
Ingredients
2 cups pasta of choice
1 kg ground veal
1 egg
2 slices toast (white)
1 tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon oregano
1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup tomato paste
1/4 cup stock of choice
1/4 cup tomato puree
1 onion, minced
1 garlic clove, minced
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
Ingredients (Bechamel)
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 cups flour
4 cups milk
2 eggs, room temperature
pinch of ground nutmeg
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
Preheat the oven to 3500F. Prepare the meatballs first. Place the ground veal in a mixing bowl with the minced onion and garlic. Remove the crust from the toast and grate the bread on a cheese grater until crumbly. Add to the meat mixture. Add the salt, oregano, and egg and mix together until fully combined. Place the flour into a Pyrex dish and spread it out. With your hands, shape the meatballs into 1” rounds and drop them into the flour. Once all the meatballs are done, wash your hands thoroughly, and in a side-to-side motion, move the Pyrex so the meatballs roll and get coated with flour. Heat the oil in a frying pan and place the meatballs into the pan. Brown on all sides, remove and set aside. In the same frying pan, add the tomato paste, stock, and puree, and cook for 15 minutes until slightly thickened.
Cook the pasta according to the package directions, drain, and place into a casserole dish. Nestle the cooked meatballs in the pasta and cover with the sauce. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese over the pasta.
Next, prepare the bechamel. Melt the butter in a pot and add the flour. Stir until the flour is completely combined. Remove from the heat and slowly add the milk to avoid creating clumps. Once all the milk is incorporated, return the mixture to low heat and continuously stir to avoid it sticking to the bottom of the pot. It takes a few minutes for the sauce to start thickening, but once it does, it gets very thick fast. Once thick, add the Parmesan cheese and stir in until melted. Remove the sauce from the heat. Beat the eggs and slowly pour in some of the sauce while beating to temper them. Once the eggs have warmed up, whisk into the sauce. Spread the sauce over the prepared pasta.
Bake for 40 minutes or until the top becomes golden brown. Serve warm.
Serves 6 to 8.
Patataki 