Pastitsio

Name and origin

Pastitsio takes its name from the Italian pasticcio, a large family of baked savory pies which may be based on meat, fish, or pasta. Many Italian versions include a pastry crust; some include béchamel. The word pasticcio comes from the vulgar Latin word pastīcium derived from pasta, and means "pie", and has developed the figurative meanings of "a mess", "a tough situation", or a pastiche.

In Cyprus and Turkey, it is called "oven macaroni" (Greek: μακαρόνια του φούρνου, makarónia tou foúrnou, Turkish: fırında makarna).

In Egypt, it is called macarona béchamel (Egyptian Arabic: مكرونة بشاميل‎).

Greece and Turkey

The typical Greek and Turkish versions has a bottom layer that is bucatini or other tubular pasta, with cheese and/or egg as a binder; a middle layer of ground beef, or a mix of ground beef and ground pork with tomato sauce, cinnamon and cloves. Other spices like nutmeg or allspice are used in the top layer that is a béchamel or a mornay sauce. Grated goat cheese is often sprinkled on top. Pastitsio is a common dish, and is often served as a main course, with a salad.

Cyprus

In Cyprus, it is an essential dish during weddings and celebrations such as Easter, where it is served along with spit roasted meat. Recipes vary, but usually the meat sauce in the middle is made of pork, beef or lamb, tomatoes are only sometimes used, and it is flavoured with mint, parsley or cinnamon. The top is sprinkled with grated halloumi or anari cheese, though cheese is sometimes added only to the white sauce.

A Turkish Cypriot version of this recipe (Turkish: bol peynirli makarna fırında) two types of cheese, kaşar peyniri and beyaz peyniri, for the meat.

Egypt

The Egyptian version is typically made with penne or macaroni pasta, minced meat with minced onion, tomato sauce, and béchamel sauce, sometimes with egg or cheese on top.

Malta

In Malta, timpana (the name probably derived from timballo) is made by tossing parboiled macaroni in a tomato sauce containing a small amount of minced beef or corned beef, bound with a mixture of raw egg and grated cheese. Hard-boiled eggs are sometimes added. The macaroni is then enclosed in a pastry case or lid before being baked. A similar dish without the pastry casing is imqarrun.