Cooking Light Pastitsio

Pastitsio

This is a new recipe that I tried this weekend from the October issue of Cooking Light.  I'd never heard of Pastitsio before but it looked yummy so I decided to give it a try.  It was very quick to prepare, not terribly complicated at all.  I made it before Zack and I went out and we both ate it with Joseph, who also loved it.  Then our babysitter came over and had some and she loved it too.  She asked for the recipe as soon as we got home.  So Emily, this one's for you.

Ingredients:

• 8 ounces penne
• 1 pond ground beef
• cooking spray
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 1/2 cups chopped onion
• 5 garlic cloves minced
• 3/4 tsp kosher salt
• 1 tbsp flour
• 2 cups fat-free milk
• 1 can diced tomatoes
• 4 oz 1/3 less fat cream cheese
• 3 oz fat free cream cheese
• 3/4 cup part-skim mozzerella

Directions:
Cook pasta and drain.  Heat a large skillet and coat with cooking spray.  Add beef to pan and and cook, stirring to crumble.  Remove meat from pan and drain .  Add oil to pan and saute onions for 5 minutes.  Add garlic stirring constantly for 1 minute.  Return beef to pan and season with salt.  Add flour and cook for 1 minute.  Stir in milk, cream cheese, and tomatoes and stir until cheese has melted.  Stir in pasta.  Place in coated baking dish and top with mozzarella.  Broil for 4 minutes until cheese is browned.

*Cooking Light October 2011