Plant-Based Pastitsio
Course: Miscellaneous4
servings30
minutes40
minutes300
kcalPastitsio takes its name from the Italian pasticcio, a similar macaroni dish enveloped in pie crust. Pastitsio also has red sauce in it though so it’s a bit more like lasagna with bechamel sauce on top. It’s big in Greece, and was the only dish I had my heart set on tasting that I couldn’t find a vegan version of.
Ingredients
- Plant Based “meat”sauce – You can use a premade sauce instead if you like.
2 teaspoon olive oil
1 lb vegan ground meat or seasoned hydrated texturized vegetable protein
1 cup cooked brown lentils
2 medium onions, chopped or minced
4 cloves garlic, minced or crushed
2 tablespoon tomato paste
½ cup red wine or vegetable broth
1 can crushed or pureed tomatoes
1½ teaspoon ground cinnamon, or 1 cinnamon stick
¾ teaspoon ground Allspice
½ teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon dried thyme or 2 teaspoons fresh thyme
A handful of fresh parsley, chopped,
alt and pepper, to taste
- Béchamel
4 tablespoons vegan butter or margarine
¾ cup all-purpose flour
2½ cups soy milk, or oat milk
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 teaspoon lemon juice
4 tablespoon nutritional yeast
salt and pepper, to taste
- Pasta
9 oz bucatini pasta (long macaroni)
salt, to boil the pasta
3 tablespoon nutritional yeast
olive oil, or cooking spray
A pinch or two of Nutmeg and Cinnamon
Directions
- Plant-Based “Meat” Sauce
- Heat the oil in a large saucepan at medium heat and add the veggie “meat”. Cook until lightly browned
- Add the onion and garlic and saute until the onions are translucent and add spices, and tomato paste. Cook for another minute or two.
- Add the tomatoes, lentils and herbs. Season with salt and pepper. Allow it to simmer uncovered on low heat for 15 to 20 minutes or until most of the liquid has reduced.
- Béchamel
- Melt the vegan butter in a saucepan over low heat. Gradually stir in the flour to form a paste. This is called a roux. Cook for about 1 minute or more.
- Slowly add the soy milk and whisk continuously to prevent clumping, until it thickens.
- Add the nutmeg, lemon juice, nutritional yeast, salt and pepper.
- Pasta
- Preheat the oven to 370˚F
- Lightly oil a rectangular (11×14 inch) casserole dish
- Boil the dried pasta in salted water until almost al dente (about 2 minutes less than the instructed amount of time on the package.
- Drain the pasta well and place gently in a large mixing bowl
- Pour 1/4 of the “meat” sauce into the bowl and stir gently, making sure all the noodles are coated and being careful not to break them.
- Lay the noodles in the casserole in the same direction lengthwise.
- Add the vegan “meat” sauce and spread it evenly across the top of the noodles.
- Pour in the béchamel on top of the “meat” sauce layer, and spread evenly.
- Sprinkle the top with a little bit of nutmeg and cinnamon and place in the oven and bake for 45-60 minutes, until it is bubbling on the sides a little and the top is lightly browned.
- Serve and enjoy!
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