Goodbye grey sky, hello blue.

The British Summer was off to a roaring start until the grey clouds started to gather, after watching Rick Stein on the telly enjoying the sunshine in Corfu I decided to try and inject a bit of sunshine back into the day.

Rick Stein - image via www.dailymail.co.uk

The cuisine in Corfu has been influenced by the many countries that have colonised it leaving you with some interesting dishes, one of which is Pastitsio, a Greek alternative to Lasagna. The traditional pasta and minced beef is accompanied by aromatic bay leaves, nutmeg, cloves and cinnamon, very delicious.

Corfu - image via

discovergreekislands.co.uk

After watching Rick Stein cook this I decided it was well within my skill base to recreate it. Like a good Lasagna it takes a bit of prep before hand but then once it's done you can bang it in the oven and then eat it when you're ready.

My effort, yum!

It looked pretty good and tasted great and momentarily brought a little bit a sunshine into my heart, so if you'd like to give it a go this is Rick Stein's recipe from the BBC Food website:

Ingredients

For the meat sauce

• 4 tbsp olive oil
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 2 celery sticks, finely chopped
• 1kg/2¼lb lean minced beef
• 200ml/7fl oz red wine
• 400g/14oz can chopped tomatoes
• 2 tbsp tomato purée
• 10cm/4in piece cinnamon stick
• ¼ tsp ground cloves
• 1 tbsp dried oregano, Greek if possible
• 2 tbsp fresh oregano, chopped
• 3 fresh bay leaves
• 100ml/3½fl oz water
• 1½ tsp salt
• freshly ground black pepper

For the pasta

• 8 tsp salt
• 500g/1lb 2oz tubular pasta, such as rigatoni, tubetti or tortiglioni
• 2 free-range eggs, lightly beaten
• 50g/1¾oz Greek kefalotiri cheese or parmesan cheese, finely grated
• 2 tbsp melted butter
• 10g/½oz fresh white breadcrumbs

For the white sauce

• 115g/4¼oz butter
• 115g/4¼oz plain flour
• 1.2 litres/2 pints whole milk, plus a little extra
• ½ tsp nutmeg, freshly grated
• salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Preparation method

1. For the meat sauce, heat the olive oil in a medium-sized pan, add the onion, garlic and celery and fry until just beginning to brown. Add the minced beef and fry over a high heat for 3-4 minutes, breaking up any lumps with a wooden spoon as it browns.
   
2. Add the red wine, tomatoes, tomato purée, cinnamon stick, ground cloves, dried and fresh oregano, bay leaves, water, the 1½ teaspoons salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste, and simmer for 30-40 minutes, stirring now and then, until the sauce has thickened but is still nicely moist.
   
3. Remove from the heat and discard the cinnamon stick and bay leaves.
   
4. For the pasta, bring 4.5 litres/8 pints water to the boil in a large saucepan with the eight teaspoons salt. Add the pasta and cook until al dente, about 13 minutes, but take care not to overcook as it will cook a little further in the oven. Drain well, transfer to a large bowl and leave to cool slightly.
   
5. For the white sauce, melt the butter in a medium-sized non-stick saucepan, add the flour and cook, stirring, over a medium heat, for one minute. Gradually beat in the milk, then bring to the boil, stirring. Lower the heat and leave to simmer for 5-7 minutes, stirring occasionally.
   
6. Season with the nutmeg and some salt and pepper to taste.
   
7. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4. Stir 250ml/9fl oz (about one-fifth) of the white sauce into the warm pasta with the beaten eggs and half the grated cheese. Keep the remaining sauce warm over a low heat, stirring now and then and adding more milk if it begins to get a little thick.
   
8. Use the melted butter to grease a large, shallow ovenproof dish that measures about 23cm x 33cm (9in x 13in) across and 7cm (2½in) deep. Spread one-third of the pasta over the base of the dish and cover with half the meat sauce.
   
9. Add another third of the pasta and then the rest of the meat sauce, then cover with a final layer of pasta. Spoon over the remaining white sauce.
   
10. Mix the remaining grated cheese with the breadcrumbs and sprinkle them over the top. Bake for 40 minutes until bubbling hot and golden brown.
    
11. Serve with a green salad, crusty bread and a gusty red wine.