Oh Pastitsio… I love Pastitsio! I first tried it in a little place in downtown Detriot and simply had to find the recipe! But then, I thought I couldn’t have it anymore when I first started my journey with Low Carb/Keto eating. I was so excited when I finally found a way to make it Low Carb! Just a side note: I hate onions, so I will always put in the amount of Onion Powder I use as an alternative.
Ingredients
For the Meat Filling:
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 2 pounds ground Turkey (or ground beef)
- 1 tbsp onion powder (or 1 onion chopped)
- 1 cup dry white wine (a little pinot Grigio for the recipe. A little for me while I cook!)
- 1 (14-ounce) can tomato sauce
- 3 tbsp chopped parsley
- 1/2 tsp ground allspice
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- Seasoned Salt, to taste (I use Lowery’s)
- Ground black pepper, to taste
- 3 tablespoons pork breadcrumbs (I use Pork Panko)
For the Pasta:
- 1 (bag) Keto Noodles – Spirals or Elbows (I use Great Low Carb Bread Company or Thin Slim Noodles) or Keto Prepped Noodles How to prepare “Keto” Pasta (with Real Pasta!)
- 4 ounces (1/2 cup) butter
- 4 large egg whites
- 1 1/2 cups grated Parmesan cheese or Italian blend shredded cheese
For the Béchamel Sauce:
- 8 ounces (1 cup) butter
- 1 cup all-purpose Keto flour (I use King Arthur Keto Flour)
- 1 quart milk, warmed
- 8 large egg yolks (mixed)
- 1 pinch ground nutmeg
- Seasoned Salt to taste (I use Lowery’s)
Directions:
Meat Filling
- Turn that oven to 350! Do it now or you’ll forget!
- Turn on the stovetop burner to Medium Heat. Then heat olive oil in a large sauté pan.
- Add ground turkey or beef and brown it for about 5 minutes. Til it’s, well, brown!
- Add onion powder, wine, tomato sauce, parsley, allspice, cinnamon, salt, and pepper. IF you are using real onion, add it first and let it cook for about 2-3 minutes.
- Turn the Heat Down to low! Allow the sauce to simmer for 10 minutes.
- While that simmers, grease the bottom and sides of a lasagna pan with olive oil. You can also look down at the noodle instructions and get that party started!
- Stir pork breadcrumbs into meat sauce (this will thicken the sauce just enough)
- Remove from heat and pour into the lasagna pan as the bottom layer.
- Rinse this pan! We will use it again for the Bechamel later! I’M ALL ABOUT LESS DIRTY DISHES!
Noodles
- While sauce is simmering, put water on to boil for pasta.
- Keto (Great Low Carb Bread Company) noodles take about 2-3 minutes longer than regular noodles to cook. Once they are cooked to your taste, drain the noodles. (Remember that you will be baking this later, so al dente is your friend! My husband loves him some al dente pasta!)
- ***If you are using Keto Prepped noodles, simply bring them to warm slowly in water over low -medium heat on the stove
- Once they are al dente, drain and cool (run the cold water over the noodles in the colander. Can’t have the egg whites start to cook early!)
- While the noodles are cooling, melt butter in pasta pot, then put the noodles back into the pot.
- Stir in beaten egg whites and 1 cup cheese.
- Pour on top on the meat in your lasagna pan
Béchamel Sauce
- Pull that rinsed pan back out. Turn the stove to LOW heat.
- Melt 1 cup of butter over low heat.
- Time to make a Roux! Whisk flour into melted butter til smooth. Cook for a minute, but not much longer. You want this step to remove any grainy texture from the flour, but too long and it will turn brown.
- Add milk to mixture slowly (or sometimes in small bits at a time depending on your whisking speed. Simmer over low heat. You are wanting it to get thicker but not to start boiling, so keep it on LOW no matter how tempting it is to turn it up!
- You are looking for a thickness between brown gravy and chocolate pudding. Or as my husband says, it is barely thicker than white gravy.
- Get it off the heat and stir in egg yolks, seasoned salt to taste, and that pinch of nutmeg. Measure those spices with your heart!
- Pour over the noddles! You’re almost there!
- Cover the top with grated Parmesan or Italian mix cheese. This is where you will truly measure with your heart!
- Bake in 350 F oven for 30 – 40 minutes or until the top is a nice golden color.
