Pastitsio

We have also made this recipe since it was first published.  I make it exactly as stated, except I double the nutmeg.  My whole family loves it.  We don't find it dry at all!

I have been making this recipe since it was first published. I did find that it was too dry as is, so I have always made 50% more of the filling than called for. The rest of the ingredients, including the white sauce, I have made as in the recipe. This dish has been very popular with my family. I do like the idea of adding more spice to both sauces and may try that next time as another reviewer did.

Good taste, I think it could use more seasoning. Several pans to wash, otherwise easy to cook. I served with a garden salad.

This recipe has potential, but is not that great as it is written. I looked up a full fat version of this by Ina Garten (in House Beautiful) and seasoned the red sauce via her recipe (cinnamon, nutmeg, oregano, thyme, a pinch of cayenne). I also used red wine in the red sauce. In addition, I added a little nutmeg and black pepper to the white sauce. In the full fat recipe a lot of cheese is used, so baking it is okay and doesn't dry out the pasta. However, in CL's lower fat version there isn't enough cheese to cover the pasta and keep it safe from drying out from the heat of the oven. I took it out of the oven after 15 minutes for fear of hard pasta and decided to toss it all together in a bowl. Now, I just have a pasta with white and red sauce mixed together. I'd use more red sauce next time though. The white is a little sweet for me. I'm giving this 2 stars because I'll eat it, but I had to research other recipes to change it and make it better.