I made this for a houseful Monday night

I made this for a houseful Monday night. Although my guests thought it was odd that I photographed the dish before serving it, they enjoyed it. This is sort of a Greek variation of Lasagna. The recipe is based on one in Mark Bittman's incredible book, How to Cook Everything

Pastitsio

This dish is an incredible cross among lasagna, macaroni and cheese and a soufflé. It gets raves from everyone who's tried it. That means that it's either very good, or everyone around me wants to spare my tender feelings. Regardless, it is the newest member of the Whitney table Hall of Fame.

8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter

1 pound ziti, penne, elbows, or other cut pasta

4 tablespoons plain bread crumbs, preferably fresh

3 cups milk

1/4 cup flour

1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

4 eggs, beaten

2 cups freshly grated Parmesan or hard feta cheese

4 cups Meat Sauce, Bolognese-Style

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Preheat the oven to 350⁰E

Melt the butter in a 2-quart saucepan over low heat. Salt the boiling water and cook the pasta until it is barely tender, not quite done enough to eat. Drain the pasta. Place pasta in a large bowl and toss with 2 tablespoons of the melted butter and 2 tablespoons of the breadcrumbs. Set aside. Use 1 tablespoon of the melted butter to grease a large baking pan or casserole.

In a small saucepan or microwave, heat the milk until small bubbles appear. Reheat the remaining butter over medium-low heat in its saucepan. Add the flour to the melted butter and stir almost constantly with a wire whisk until the mixture turns golden, about 5 minutes. Slowly add the milk, whisking all the while; cook, whisking, until the mixture thickens, about 3 to 5 minutes. Add the nutmeg, salt, and pepper.

Stir a couple of tablespoons of the hot sauce into the beaten eggs, then a little more. Pour this mixture back into the sauce and stir. Add most of the Parmesan—reserve some for sprinkling—and stir again.

Put half the pasta in the baking dish; cover with half the tomato sauce. Cover with the remaining pasta, then the remaining tomato sauce and all the cheese sauce. Sprinkle with the remaining Parmesan or feta and the remaining breadcrumbs (another little grating of nutmeg here won’t hurt, either). Bake about 45 minutes, or until the top turns golden brown. Let rest for a few minutes before cutting and serving.