Fraudulent Wild Mushroom Pastitsio

I think the name of this recipe is kind of a fraud.

It is not the mushroom part. Those are very much there. You could argue about the wildness of the mushrooms, as I am sure these were all grown on farms. I am wiling to give the shrooms the benefit of the doubt as the packages I used didn’t contain the common mushroom varieties.

The part I am having a problem with is the Pastitsio part. For those who are not familiar, it is a Greek (or Mediterranean) pie made with layers of pasta in a bechamel sauce. OK, I admit this recipe does that, but I think of pastitsio as having both tubular pasta and coming out in nice blocks that retain their layers. This recipe had the wrong kind of pasta and fell apart on the plate.

Whatever you want to call it, it was very good.

This dish received rave reviews from the family.

I used 12oz of “wild” mushrooms.

Boiling the pasta.

The eggs and parsley.

The mushroom mixture.

Making the roux.

Finishing the sauce.

Adding the pasta.

The first layer of pasta.

The mushrooms went down then the second layer.

Out of the oven.

Tasty!

Wild Mushroom Pastitsio

Makes: Serves 6 (serving size: 1 piece)

Ingredients:

• 4 teaspoons olive oil, divided
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 (8-ounce) packages presliced exotic mushroom blend, chopped
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 (8-ounce) can tomato sauce
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
• 1 teaspoon unsalted butter
• 1 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 cups 1% low-fat milk
• 1 1/2 cups (6 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese, divided
• 4 cups hot cooked fusilli pasta
• Cooking spray

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°.

2. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat; swirl to coat. Add onion and garlic; sauté for 3 minutes or until tender. Add mushrooms. Cook for 8 minutes or until liquid almost evaporates. Stir in oregano, 1/4 teaspoon salt, black pepper, nutmeg, and tomato sauce. Cook 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove from heat; set aside.

3. Combine eggs and parsley in a large bowl. Heat the remaining 1 teaspoon oil and butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Sprinkle flour evenly into pan; cook 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Gradually add milk to flour mixture, stirring with a whisk until smooth. Bring to a boil; cook 2 minutes or until thickened, stirring frequently. Remove from heat; let stand 4 minutes. Stir in remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1 cup cheese. Gradually add hot milk mixture to egg mixture, stirring constantly with a whisk. Add pasta to milk mixture; toss to combine.

4. Spread 2 cups pasta mixture in an 11 x 7-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Top with mushroom mixture. Top with remaining pasta mixture. Cover with foil coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes. Remove foil; sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup cheese.

5. Preheat broiler.

6. Broil 5 minutes or until cheese melts. Let stand 15 minutes.

Nutritional Info:

364 calories 13.1 g fat 5.7 g satfat 5 g monofat 1.2 g polyfat 20.1 g protein 42 g carbohydrate 3.5 g fiber 92 mg cholesterol 2.6 mg iron 574 mg sodium 341 mg calcium

Source: http://m.myrecipes.com/details/searchR.rbml?id=50400000116701.xml&bcat=search&cat=Search%20Result&fl=recipe/wild-mushroom-pastitsio-50400000116701/