Makaronia tou fournou

Ingredients

Pasta

• 500 gbucatini
• or thick tubular pasta
• salt, for the water

Meat sauce

• 700 gminced pork
• or half pork and half beef
• 2onions, finely chopped
• 3garlic cloves, crushed
• 3 tablespoonstomato purée
• 400 gchopped tomatoes
• 150 mlred wine
• 1 teaspoonground cinnamon
• 1cinnamon stick
• 3 tablespoonsdried mint
• 3 tablespoonsolive oil
• salt and black pepper

Béchamel

• 120 gbutter
• 120 gplain flour
• 1.5 litreswhole milk
• 200 ghalloumi, grated
• 3eggs, beaten
• a pinch of grated nutmeg
• salt and white pepper

To assemble

• 150 ghalloumi, grated
• 2 tablespoonsdried mint

Directions

1. Heat the olive oil in a wide heavy pan. Add the finely chopped onions. Cook them for a good ten minutes. Add the crushed garlic to them. Cook it for one more full minute. Add the minced pork to the pan. Break it up with a wooden spoon. Fry it until it has lost its raw colour. Pour in all of the measured red wine.
2. Let it bubble and reduce away. Give it about five full minutes. Add the tomato purée and tomatoes. Add the ground cinnamon and the stick. Add the dried mint to the pan. Season it with salt and black pepper. Bring it up to a gentle simmer. Let it cook for about forty minutes. Stir it now and then as it goes. The sauce must be thick rather than wet.
3. Reduce it further if it is loose. Melt the butter in a large heavy pot. Stir in the flour to make a paste. Cook it for two or three minutes. Cook it until it smells faintly nutty. Do not let it colour at all here. Add the milk a ladle at a time. Whisk hard after each addition.
4. Let it come together before adding more. A little at a time keeps it smooth. Whisk rather than stir throughout. Let it simmer gently for ten minutes. Stir it constantly as it cooks. Season it with salt, pepper and nutmeg. This bechamel should be thick. Take the pot right off the heat. Stir in all the grated halloumi.
5. Let it melt in the residual heat. Let the sauce cool for a few minutes. Beat the eggs in a separate bowl. Take a ladle of the warm sauce. Whisk it slowly into the eggs. Eggs added to a hot sauce scramble.
6. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add all of the pasta to the pot. Cook it for two minutes less than the packet says. Take it out while it still has real bite. Drain all the pasta thoroughly. Do not rinse it at all afterwards. Butter a deep baking dish well. Lay half the pasta in the base.
7. Lay the tubes lengthways in rows. It takes a moment and is worth doing. Scatter grated halloumi over the pasta. Scatter dried mint over that too. Spread all the meat sauce over it. Lay the rest of the pasta over the meat. Lay it lengthways again in rows. Scatter more halloumi and mint over it. Pour the bechamel over the top.
8. Spread it evenly right to the edges. The bechamel must cover it completely. Scatter a little more halloumi on top. Grate a little nutmeg over it. Heat the oven to one hundred and eighty degrees. Bake it for about fifty minutes. Judging it takes a careful look.
9. Cover it with foil if it darkens too fast. The inside still needs the full time. Let it stand for at least twenty minutes. That lets the layers settle and firm. Cut it into generous thick squares. Lift them out with a wide slice. Serve a green salad alongside. It keeps three days refrigerated.

Technique

• Grated halloumi in the béchamel and between the layers, with dried mint throughout, is what makes this Cypriot rather than Greek pastitsio, which uses kefalotyri instead; older dried halloumi grates far better than fresh and is saltier and sharper, which is what Cypriot cooks use.
• The eggs beaten into the béchamel are what set it into a firm sliceable top, so they are essential rather than optional; temper them by whisking a ladle of the warm sauce into the beaten eggs first, since eggs added to a hot sauce scramble.
• Cook the pasta two minutes short of the packet time and do not rinse it: it finishes cooking in the oven and would go mushy otherwise, and rinsing washes off the surface starch that helps the sauce cling.

Substitutions

• Half pork and half beef is used in many households.
• Any thick tubular pasta works where bucatini is unavailable.

Variations

• Laying the pasta tubes lengthways in rows gives clean slices when cut.
• Greek pastitsio is the same idea with kefalotyri and no mint.
• The cinnamon in the meat sauce gives warmth rather than sweetness.

History

Baked pasta with minced meat and béchamel, the Cypriot pastitsio, made with grated halloumi and mint.

Frequently asked questions

What is Makaronia tou fournou?

Makaronia tou fournou is a main from Cyprus: cypriot baked pasta with mince and halloumi béchamel. Baked pasta with minced meat and béchamel, the Cypriot pastitsio, made with grated halloumi and mint.

How long does Makaronia tou fournou take to make?

Makaronia tou fournou takes 45 minutes of preparation and 1 hour of cooking. The recipe makes serves 8. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Makaronia tou fournou?

Yes, within limits. Half pork and half beef is used in many households. Any thick tubular pasta works where bucatini is unavailable.

What is the most important thing to get right in Makaronia tou fournou?

Let it bubble and reduce away. Give it about five full minutes. Add the tomato purée and tomatoes. Add the ground cinnamon and the stick. Add the dried mint to the pan. Season it with salt and black pepper. Bring it up to a gentle simmer. Let it cook for about forty minutes. Stir it now and then as it goes. The sauce must be thick rather than wet.