Pastistio

Preheat oven to 190°C.

Heat oil in a medium-sized pan and add onions and garlic. Cook for 5–10 minutes until soft and transparent. Add minced lamb and cook for a further 5–10 minutes, stirring thoroughly to brown. Add canned tomatoes, red wine or water and all remaining meat sauce ingredients. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes. Taste test and season as required with salt and pepper.

For pasta, bring a medium-sized pan of salted water to the boil. Add pasta and cook for approximately 10 minutes until just soft. It will continue to cook in the oven so there’s no need for the ‘al dente’ test. Drain pasta in a colander and leave to rest while you make the béchamel (white) sauce.

Melt butter in a saucepan and add flour. Mix to a smooth paste over a gentle heat. Take off heat and whisk in warm milk. Return to the heat and gently bring to a simmer, stirring continuously. Remove from heat.

To make up the pastitio, spoon a layer of pasta into a lightly oiled ovenproof dish. Follow with a layer of meat sauce and pasta and repeat until it’s all used up. Then spoon over the béchamel sauce and lastly the combined beaten egg and grated cheese, for a crispy topping.

Bake for at least 30 minutes until bubbling and golden brown on top.

^{An extract from Minced with photography by Alan Gillard. Published by Penguin Group NZ. Copyright © Sue Hamilton and Dana Alexander, 2010. RRP $35.00. Available at all good booksellers nationwide.}