Quick Pastitsio

52 Reviews
ADD YOUR REVIEW
Photo: John Autry
Hands-on Time
17 Mins
Total Time
40 Mins
Yield
Serves 6 (serving size: 1 1/3 cups)
By Julianna Grimes
October 2011
RECIPE BY Cooking Light

This easy beef-and-pasta dish features a creamy sauce that's sure to satisfy.  Use any short pasta--ziti or rotini also work.

Ingredients

  • 8 ounces uncooked penne (tube-shaped pasta)
  • Cooking spray
  • 1 pound ground sirloin
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 1/2 cups chopped onion
  • 5 garlic cloves, minced
  • 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
  • 2 cups fat-free milk
  • 1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained
  • 1/2 cup (4 ounces) 1/3-less-fat cream cheese
  • 1 (3-ounce) package fat-free cream cheese
  • 3/4 cup (3 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Nutritional Information

  • Calories 431
  • Fat 15.9g
  • Satfat 6.9g
  • Monofat 6.1g
  • Polyfat 0.7g
  • Protein 27.8g
  • Carbohydrate 41.9g
  • Fiber 1.9g
  • Cholesterol 61mg
  • Iron 2.4mg
  • Sodium 679mg
  • Calcium 289mg

How to Make It

Step 1

Preheat broiler.

Step 2

Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat. Drain.

Step 3

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add beef to pan; sauté 5 minutes or until browned, stirring to crumble. Remove beef from pan; drain. Wipe pan clean with paper towels. Add oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add onion; sauté 4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add garlic; sauté 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add beef; sprinkle with salt. Add flour; cook 1 minute, stirring frequently. Stir in milk, tomatoes, and cream cheeses, stirring until smooth; bring to a simmer. Cook 2 minutes or until thoroughly heated. Stir in pasta.

Step 4

Spoon pasta mixture into a 13 x 9-inch broiler-safe baking dish coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle mozzarella evenly over top. Broil 4 minutes or until golden. Sprinkle with parsley.

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Ratings & Reviews

671mama's Review

671mama
January 14, 2014
I made this tonight and made a little more noodles than it called for and used 6 large clovesof garlic as my family loves garlic. I used 2% milk and sliced parmesean cheese on top (purely by mistake!) However, everyone liked it and I will definitely make it again! And may try it with chicken!

lmaddi's Review

EarthaK
September 26, 2013
My family loved it but I did make some changes b/c I prefer eating chicken over beef . I only followed the recipe for the measurements but with these changes: - Brown chicken breast in a pan with oil, S&P & parsley, cut them into bite size pieces - Add onion, garlic – stirred until onions are brown - Added flour (tossed until it covered everything), milk, cream cheese, tomatoes - Stirred and let simmer while I made the pasta -Once I drained the pasta I added the chicken mixture and pasta in a pot and added the mozzarella My 6 yr old loved it and my picky husband had 2 servings.

SGriffy's Review

jmeleeS
October 12, 2011
Easy to fix and tastes delicious. Will be making this again and again

TheCurvyGirl's Review

holliemm
October 09, 2011
I wish I would have read these reviews before I made this...it was bland bland bland! I am not sure if everyone ate it because they were hungry or they did not want to hurt my feelings. I added A LOT of onion powder and garlic salt but it was still a miss. I did have to add a little more flour to the milk mixture since it was a bit soggy. Now I know I should have added some cinnamon and allspice to it. I will try it again though...:)

jessiowe's Review

crosscourt
October 10, 2011
Based on the reviews, I added a bit of nutmeg, cinnamon and dried oregano. I also used just low-fat cream cheese and no fat-free. Everything else, I followed exactly. It was not too liquidy at all! The flavor was perfect! Will definitely be making this again!!

ChicCooks2's Review

saraelzbenson
May 17, 2012
Kid friendly, quick, a bit on the bland side. Like others, I used an 8 oz block of 1/3 less-fat cream cheese.

deannapage's Review

randomgibberish
August 28, 2014
We loved it, but then I rarely make a recipe exactly as written. I used tomatoes with chilies and didn't drain. I had half and half on hand so used that but only about a cup or less. I only had a 3 oz package of cream cheese on hand so used that and omitted the mozzarella.

clhassell's Review

ChicCooks2
September 20, 2011
I think this recipe is a good starting point. I would season the beef with something while it's cooking, black pepper, oregano, or other Italian spice. Unlike the first reviewer it was not that liquidity... the flour thickened it up. Maybe a little less milk? I also used some very big garlic cloves, which added some flavour. Since this is a relatively cheap & easy recipe, we will experiment in improving it.

adagoddess's Review

deannapage
October 03, 2011
I used an 8oz. package of Neufchatel cheese, as I didn't want to use fat free cream cheese, and my store didn't have any 4oz sized packages. I also added 1t. cinnamon as suggested by other reviewers. It seemed awfully liquidy at first (which is why I checked the reviews before finishing the recipe), but I simmered it for a bit (longer than the 2 minutes suggested). It did thicken up, and the pasta did absorb the extra. Baked it at 350 for about 15 minutes before broiling. Will probably add some italian seasoning next time to kick it up a bit. As written, the recipe is kind of plain in the spice department.

saraelzbenson's Review

Janet1961
September 30, 2012
I made the recipe vegetarian by replacing the ground sirloin with soy crumbles. Mine also came out soupier than I expected. Next time I would cut the milk down to 1 3/4. I will probably make it again, but with a few tweaks.
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