Aegean casserole from lhj

8 Servings

Ingredients

Quantity Ingredient
4 cups Milk
¼ cup Butter or margarine
⅔ cup All-purpose flour
½ Bay leaf
1 teaspoon Salt
⅓ cup Grated Parmesan cheese
6 cups Eggplant; finely diced
2 teaspoons Salt; divided
1 tablespoon Olive oil; plus 1 teaspoon
1 cup Finely chopped onion
2 teaspoons Minced garlic
½ teaspoon Cinnamon
1 pinch Ground red pepper
1 pounds Lean ground beef
½ teaspoon Dried mint flakes
½ teaspoon Freshly ground pepper
¼ cup Tomato paste
28 ounces Tomatoes; canned
⅓ cup Chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
16 ounces Ziti pasta; cooked as directed

Directions

WHITE SAUCE

CASSEROLE

1. Make White Sauce: Bring milk to boil in medium saucepan over high heat.

Melt butter in large, heavy saucepan over medium heat. Add flour and cook, whisking, 1 minute. Gradually whisk in milk, bay leaf and salt; bring to boil, whisking. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring, 10 minutes. Remove from heat. Discard bay leaf and stir in Parmesan.

2. Toss eggplant with 1 teaspoon salt; drain in colander 30 minutes. Pat dry. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add eggplant and cook, stirring, until tender, 10 to 15 minutes.

3. Heat oven to 375°F. Add remaining 1 teaspoon oil to skillet. Add onions and cook until tender, 5 minutes. Stir in garlic, cinnamon and red pepper; cook 15 seconds. Add meat, mint, remaining 1 teaspoon salt and the pepper; cook, stirring, until meat is no longer pink. Add tomato paste and tomatoes, breaking up tomatoes with spoon. Add eggplant and bring to simmer; simmer 10 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in parsley.

4. Transfer cooked ziti to large bowl and stir in 1 cup White Sauce. Spread half the ziti in bottom of deep 5-quart casserole. Spoon on filling, then remaining ziti and White Sauce. Bake uncovered 25 to 35 minutes, until bubbly and browned.

Prep Time: 1 hour Baking Time: 25 to 35 minutes Degree of Difficulty: Moderate (C) Copyright 1997, Meredith Corporation, All Rights Reserved.

NOTES : We combined the flavors of our favorite Greek specialties--moussaka and pastitsio--to create a new classic.

Recipe by: Ladies Home Journal

Posted to MC-Recipe Digest V1 #942 by "abprice@..." <abprice@...> on Dec 2, 1997

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