Ground beef, feta cheese, and tomatoes are blended with macaroni, then baked in a rich white sauce. This is a wonderful change from traditional Italian lasagna.
This is called "pastisio" in Greek, and the only recommendation I can add is to double the cinnamon and perhaps use Romano instead of parmesan (stronger flavour). Greek comfort food, my mom's is my favourite food in the world!
Read More I found this recipe to have a very pleasant taste, but is probably not something I would make again. It's better the second day, I think. Essentially, this dish takes four pans -- one to cook the meat, one to boil the pasta, one to prepare the white sauce, and one to bake. It's not as quick and easy as it sounds. If you already have cooked ground beef in your freezer or some cooked pasta ready, I'd probably recommend this recipe. It's filling and pairs nicely with salad. It's just a little bland. I did use only half of the pasta, I added some grated cheese to the top. I do wish I had layered it, as the noodles on the top got unpleasantly crispy. If you have to make the whole thing from scratch, I don't think it's quite worth the effort.
Read MoreThis is called "pastisio" in Greek, and the only recommendation I can add is to double the cinnamon and perhaps use Romano instead of parmesan (stronger flavour). Greek comfort food, my mom's is my favourite food in the world!
I followed the suggestions of other reviews and halved the amount of pasta, doubled the feta cheese, and cooked it in layers. Thank you, everyone! It turned out great. I used flavored feta cheese and added spices typical of other Greek recipes I have (since I couldn't find a Greek spice at the store), and it was very flavorful. I layered it pasta first, then the feta cheese, then beef, tomatoes, and finally Parmesan. I added a clove of garlic to the beef and onion during cooking. This is also where I added 2 t. chili powder, 2 t. ground cumin, and 1/4 t. ground red pepper along with the 2 t. cinnamon. I drained the tomatoes of their juice and added 3 T. of lime juice to them. My whole family loved it, and I will most definitely make it again...soon.
I found this recipe to have a very pleasant taste, but is probably not something I would make again. It's better the second day, I think. Essentially, this dish takes four pans -- one to cook the meat, one to boil the pasta, one to prepare the white sauce, and one to bake. It's not as quick and easy as it sounds. If you already have cooked ground beef in your freezer or some cooked pasta ready, I'd probably recommend this recipe. It's filling and pairs nicely with salad. It's just a little bland. I did use only half of the pasta, I added some grated cheese to the top. I do wish I had layered it, as the noodles on the top got unpleasantly crispy. If you have to make the whole thing from scratch, I don't think it's quite worth the effort.
It is a 5 with changes. I had two 5 oz. packages of feta (one was lowfat with Mediterranean seasoning) and ground beef. I looked for a recipe and this is the one that struck me. I loved the idea. I used 1 lb. of cooked penne, 1 1/2 lbs. ground beef, a 15 oz. can of diced tomatoes, a 26 1/2 oz. can of tomato sauce, 1 large clove of garlic sauteed with the onion, salt, and pepper but no parmesan, no cinnamon. I added one package of feta to the sauce. I combined the beef sauce and pasta in the casserole. For the white sauce I used the same amount of butter, 2 tablespoons of cornstarch with 3 tablespoons of flour and 4 cups of milk seasoned with salt and peper. I put 1/2 container of lowfat feta in this sauce and poured it over the pasta mixture. I sprinkled the rest of the feta on the top. I baked it for 25 minutes. My husband rated it a five.
I had to cut the onion and sub tomato sauce for chopped tomatoes (picky kids), but each one ate two big bowls of this great dish!--and they hate everything. I also added Greek seasoning while cooking the beef (available in spices--usually near cajun seasoning). I didn't tell them it was lasagne, because then they would look for layers, but just called it Greek Hamburger Helper, since they love HH. I would make this again.
Waaaay to much macaroni in this recipe. It might be good, if the proportions were right.
Very bland if you don't use more spices. Also, I don't recommend using cinnamon.
This recipe should come with a disclaimer just under the title: "Beware---this dish is bland and too much trouble for what you end-up with!" I didn't read the reviews before I prepared it because it sounded so good, but boy, was I disappointed when I prepared it for guests-----it was just a huge bland mass of baked pasta noodles (way too many!) with a little bit of ground beef and cinnamon flavoring. You couldn't even tell it had tomatoes or "white sauce" in it! The pasta amount should be cut-down to one or one and a half pounds, instead of the two pounds it calls for. Better yet, just make traditional Italian lasagna----it's a much bigger hit with company! Scrap this recipe!!!!!
Everyone seemed to liket it but I added a little bit more ground beef, only used 2/3 the noodles, and added 2oz of feta cheesse. overall...very good
This was pretty good. I changed it some. Added garlic, butter and parmesan cheese to the macaroni, only used half the amount of macaroni called for (which turned out perfect) and layered it (macaroni on bottom, then layer of feta cheese, then meat mixture). I also doubled the white sauce (which was made with flour, butter and milk; and added salt, pepper and nutmeg). And topped it with 1/2 cup shredded parmesan. Pretty good with all the changes.
i would just suggest to try to replace the parmezan with a greek cheese,like kefalotiri,graviera,etc.:)
The ingredients sound good but the finished product was unpleasant.
I'm asked to make it over and over again....and I know how to cook some great dishes...it's just tasty and easy.
I took the advice of other reviews and used extra cheese. I also had some apples that needed to be used, so sliced those up thin and threw them in a layer in the middle. Yum! (I forgot to mix in the cinnamon, so I sprinked it lightly on the top and that was good!)
Added more feta, celery, garlic into main portion. 1/2 cup Parmesan, 1/8 tsp nutmeg into cream sauce.
I thought this recipe was a pain to make for little taste.
As with many other reviewers, I found there was too much pasta in proportion to the meat. Too much cinnamon, too little cheese, and too little flavorings.
This was very tasty. I only used 1 lb of the elbow macaroni, and 1 1/2 lbs of the beef, and 1 teas. of cinnamon. I also sauteed garlic and mushrooms with the beef and it tasted great!! I would make this again.
i replaced cinnamon w/ cumin & it makes a world of a difference. also when using this website, be careful of the area that says servings, on this recipe, it automatically gives you 12, so that could be the large of amts of pasta. enjoy ;)
Been trying to figure out want type of dishes I want to learn how to prepare this month, and I decided to learn greek dishes. Overall the greek lasagna was good and I believe this is a healthier version of "regular lasagna" and enjoyed this dish. The only thing I did differently was use tomatoe sauce in place of dices tomatoes, because I do not care much for dice tomatoes. Excellent job and thanks for posting this recipe!!
I thought this recipe was very good. I added 8.5 oz. diced artichoke hearts to it. Increased the garlic cloves to 4 and used only 3/8 teaspoon cinnamon. It is a different dish, but my family enjoyed it.
This recipie is delicious, **With Changes** You need to add more flavor, I used Cavenders All Pourpose Greek seasoning and a clove of garlic when browning the meat. I also added more cheese, artichokes, and blakc olives. The white sause is just a Bechmel sauce. You need to add nutmeg and I also added feta cheese to the sauce and simmered. Cut the pasta in half, 2 pounds is way too much. Other than that, everyone I made this for LOVED it!!
My husband and I love this dish. I do agree with other reviewers in that it can be dry. I will double the sauce recipe the next time I make it. And to those who find it "bland," yes, it is a mildly flavored dish, but it is very simple to alter the amount of spice in any aspect of the dish.
this was great..we try a new recipe once a week and this was great. I have 3 kids and they all liked it. I substituted the canned tomatoes with sundried tomatoes..mmm good stuff.
The recipe sounds tasty , no doubt, however, I think it was a bit on the bland side. When I made it it was very dry and I had to add an additional batch of the cream sauce. Perhaps actually layering, as with traditional lasagne, would be better as it would keep the cheeses from melting and "disappearing" with the rest of the ingredients....I don't know, I just think that all of the flavors were overpowered by the pasta...I may try again but add some diced red and green peppers as well and then try the traditional layering rather than casserole method.
This recipe was pretty tasty but I omitted about one fourth of the elbow macaroni after it was cooked because it seemed like it was to much in proportion to the meat mixture.
Like other reviewers have said, I found this recipe to be on the bland side. Also, it makes an insane amount of pasta. I found I needed one 13X9 pan and two 8-inch square pans to contain it all. The recipe really should specify the size of the pan.
Great, but made some changes. Use 1/2 of each of the following; macaroni, hamburg. used only 1/8 tsp of cinnamon, but next time I will skip the cinnamon. Will make again/ My family loved this.
I added garlic and rosemary and substituted fresh tomatoes for the tinned ones. This is now added to our family favourites
Bland and unispiring - not worth the minimal effort.
I did not make any changes but I think the recipe is wrong way too much pasta I made the sauce twice for two huge casseroles wasted too much time and money !
I thought it turned out quite well. I did however make a few substitutions. I used ground lamb instead of ground beef and added some Parmesan and cheese spread. It came out quite well and plan to make it again.
The amounts were off. Too much pasta and not enough sauce! The flavor was good but the recipe needs to be adjusted.
Wonderful. YOU CAN DEFINATELY GO HEAVIER ON THE CINAMON. I like this way better than traditional lasagna because tomato gives me heartburn.
