Faux-Pastitsio

Or as a friend's son likes to say, "Pasta Tits".

Pastitsio is a Greek pasta dish, there are various versions of it served up in Cyrpus and other Mediterranean countries.  This is nothing like an authentic recipe, it's been tweaked to make it quick and easy and also much healthier.  If you are following Slimming World you should be able to adapt this easily to make it a free dish on Green or Extra Easy if you use the cheese as a Healthy Extra (you'll need to ensure you use fat free natural yoghurt and reduce the cheese or make yours in a separate dish with less cheese).

This is suitable for vegetarians, obviously you can substitute the veggie mince with real meat if you prefer.

This makes a large dish to feed 4 adults or 2 adults, 2 kids and a leftover portion for lunch.  If you're cooking for 2, I'd recommend halving quantities and making a smaller one, the cheesy topping doesn't freeze well.

Pastisio

approx 300g dried pasta
1 onion, thinly sliced
1/2 punnet mushrooms, halved
1/2 bag frozen vegetarian 'mince'
1 carton/tin chopped tomatoes
1 carton passata
teaspoon dried herbs
clove garlic, crushed/teaspoon of jarred galic or garlic granules
teaspoon ground cinnamon
olive oil
large carton natural or greek yoghurt, any fat content
2 eggs, beaten
200g cheddar cheese

Put the pasta on to boil.  Cook for 5-6 minutes, until softened but not fully cooked, drain and set aside.

Heat a splash of oil in a saucepan and saute the onion for a few minutes until soft.  Add the mushrooms and cook for a few minutes more.  Tip in the frozen mince and cook for another few minutes, stirring frequently as it's prone to sticking.  You can add a little splash of hot water if it does.

Add the tomatoes, passata, garlic, herbs and cinnamon to the pan and simmer for 6=7 minutes until thickened.  Mix with the pasta and tip into a baking dish.

In a bowl, mix the yoghurt, cheese and beaten eggs.  You can add a little ground black pepper if you like.

Tip the chesy mix over the top of the pasta/mince, smooth over but don't mix it in, it needs to be a separate layer on top.

Pop in a hot oven for 15 minutes until the topping is risen, bubbly and golden brown.

Serve to hungry people: