“A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in.” — Greek Proverb
Pastichio is a Greek lasagna, made up of layers of noodles surrounding a tomato filling and topped with a creamy bechamel sauce. All of this is baked in the oven to perfection.
This polí nóstimos (“very tasty” in Greek) recipe is from Vegan Eats World by Terry Hope Romero, page 238. The bechamel sauce in this recipe is cashew and silken tofu-based. The tomato filling is full of roasted eggplant, mushrooms (we used shiitake), onions, garlic, red wine, spices, and herbs. The pasta layers are rich and buttery. The recipe called for nutmeg so Keith ground it up fresh, which made all the difference in the world! The whole kitchen smelled of savory pastichio and nutmeg. This is honestly one of the best things I’ve ever eaten.
Pastichio Fact: The word pastichio comes from pasta and means “pie”, and has developed the figurative meanings of “a mess”, “a tough situation”, or a pastiche.
Fresh ground nutmeg makes a huge difference and is easy to make with a cheap nutmeg grater.
SurfVegan, you are the bestest nutmeg grater! 🙂
Mmm to anything eggplant. I’ve never thought to add nutmeg to an eggplant dish, but it makes sense. I wish my yard was still producing eggplant. I would have made this dish this summer for sure!
OMGosh, the nutmeg totally makes this dish! 😉 So yummy!
looks great
Thanks! 🙂
This was always one of my favorites!!!!! Glad your recipe turned out that way, too! (I never made it, just ordered it!) I want the green goblet!
Aw, thanks so much HSD! 🙂 When we made this recently it was the first time I’d had pastichio, and I loved it! Thanks for complimenting our little green goblet. I am addicted to the Madonna Inn’s glassware: http://www.madonnainn.com/store/c-2-goblets.aspx They have a limited number of colors available now, but you can still find most of the others on eBay: http://www.ebay.com/sch/Glass-/50693/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=madonna+inn. Uh-oh, I just saw that they now carry black goblets… time to add more to my collection, ha ha!
Wow just wow. I thought of aubergine layered lasange recently and after seeing this am even more excited about the idea 🙂
x
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Hey there DapperDolly, thanks for your great comments! 🙂 Aubergine (I just LOVE that word!) layered lasagna sounds fantabulous… anything eggplant pretty much rules my universe.