Aegean casserole from lhj
8 Servings
Ingredients
| Quantity | Ingredient | |
|---|---|---|
| 4 | cups | Milk |
| ¼ | cup | Butter or margarine |
| ⅔ | cup | All-purpose flour |
| ½ | Bay leaf | |
| 1 | teaspoon | Salt |
| ⅓ | cup | Grated Parmesan cheese |
| 6 | cups | Eggplant; finely diced |
| 2 | teaspoons | Salt; divided |
| 1 | tablespoon | Olive oil; plus 1 teaspoon |
| 1 | cup | Finely chopped onion |
| 2 | teaspoons | Minced garlic |
| ½ | teaspoon | Cinnamon |
| 1 | pinch | Ground red pepper |
| 1 | pounds | Lean ground beef |
| ½ | teaspoon | Dried mint flakes |
| ½ | teaspoon | Freshly ground pepper |
| ¼ | cup | Tomato paste |
| 28 | ounces | Tomatoes; canned |
| ⅓ | cup | Chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley |
| 16 | ounces | Ziti pasta; cooked as directed |
Directions
WHITE SAUCE
CASSEROLE
1. Make White Sauce: Bring milk to boil in medium saucepan over high heat.
Melt butter in large, heavy saucepan over medium heat. Add flour and cook, whisking, 1 minute. Gradually whisk in milk, bay leaf and salt; bring to boil, whisking. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring, 10 minutes. Remove from heat. Discard bay leaf and stir in Parmesan.
2. Toss eggplant with 1 teaspoon salt; drain in colander 30 minutes. Pat dry. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add eggplant and cook, stirring, until tender, 10 to 15 minutes.
3. Heat oven to 375°F. Add remaining 1 teaspoon oil to skillet. Add onions and cook until tender, 5 minutes. Stir in garlic, cinnamon and red pepper; cook 15 seconds. Add meat, mint, remaining 1 teaspoon salt and the pepper; cook, stirring, until meat is no longer pink. Add tomato paste and tomatoes, breaking up tomatoes with spoon. Add eggplant and bring to simmer; simmer 10 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in parsley.
4. Transfer cooked ziti to large bowl and stir in 1 cup White Sauce. Spread half the ziti in bottom of deep 5-quart casserole. Spoon on filling, then remaining ziti and White Sauce. Bake uncovered 25 to 35 minutes, until bubbly and browned.
Prep Time: 1 hour Baking Time: 25 to 35 minutes Degree of Difficulty: Moderate (C) Copyright 1997, Meredith Corporation, All Rights Reserved.
NOTES : We combined the flavors of our favorite Greek specialties--moussaka and pastitsio--to create a new classic.
Recipe by: Ladies Home Journal
Posted to MC-Recipe Digest V1 #942 by "abprice@..." <abprice@...> on Dec 2, 1997