| White Sauce | | 4 cup Milk | | 14 cup Butter or margarine | | 2/3 cup All-purpose flour | | 1/2 x Bay leaf | | 1 tsp Salt | | 1/3 cup Freshly grated Parmesan cheese | | REST: : | | 6 cup Eggplant, finely diced | | 2 tsp Salt, divided | | 1 tbl Olive oil, (plus one 1 tsp more) | | 1 cup Onions, finely chopped | | 2 tsp Minced garlic | | 1/2 tsp Cinnamon | | 1 pch Ground red pepper | | 1 lb Lean ground beef | | 1/2 tsp Dried mint flakes | | 1/2 tsp Freshly ground pepper | | 1/4 cup Tomato paste | | 1 can (28-oz) tomatoes | | 1/3 cup Fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped | | 1 pkt (16-oz) ziti pasta, cook according to pk |
| | 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 degrees. 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 and 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. | | NOTES : We combined the flavors of our favorite Greek specialties- moussaka and pastitsio-to create a new classic. |
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