Greek-style pasta gratin with 3 cheeses and creamy béchamel sauce

A delicious pasta recipe which can be served as a first dish or as a main if served along with a green salad. Simple but really rich in flavour ingredients and quite creamy thanks to the luscious béchamel sauce, this gratin will become a favourite meal of the family!

Cooked by Elias Mamalakis,
a prominent food author and culinary expert

from the Greek version of "Olive" magazine of "Proto Thema" newspaper

Ingredients (for 4-6 people)

For the gratin:

500 gr. of tagliatelle pasta
8 whole tomatoes from a tin
3 tbsp of olive oil

2 tbsp of butter

2 tbsp of sugar

salt
pepper

For the béchamel sauce:
2 tea-cups of Greek Kasseri cheese, grated (or yellow mild Cheddar)

1 tea-cup of Cretan Graviera cheese, grated

4 tbsp of Greek Kefalotyri cheese, grated (or parmesan or pecorino)

3 tbsp of butter

4 tbsp of all-purpose flour

1 ½ glass of fresh milk, full fat

1 pinch of ground nutmeg

1 large egg beaten with a tbsp of water

salt
pepper

Method:
Put the tinned tomatoes along with their juices in a non-stick frying pan and leave to warm well on medium heat. Season with salt and pepepr, sprinkle with the sugar and stir. In the end add the olive oil and the butter. Sauté the tomatoes thoroughly and cook for about 15 minutes. Take the pan off the heat and allow to cool.

    

In a saucepan melt the butter in medium heat. Add the flour and cook, while stirring with a wooden spatula, until the flour gets darker in colour and absorbs the butter. Gradually, while stirring with a whisk, empty the milk in the saucepan and continue stirring until the sauce is thickened. Then add the grated Kasseri and the grated Graviera cheese, season with the nutmeg and plenty of pepper. Stir and leave aside.

Preheat the oven to 180ºC.

    

In the meantime, boil the pasta for about 9 minutes, drain in a colander and empty in a medium-large pyrex dish. Spread the pasta in the dish and arrange the tomatoes along with their sauce in 8 dfferent places on the surface but also among the tagliatelle. Pour over with the béchamel sauce and shake the dish a bit so to allow the sauce to get through to the bottom. Leave the dish aside.

    

Pour the beaten egg mixture over the pasta. Sprinkle on top with the grated Kefalotyri cheese and put in the oven.

Cook the gratin for about 40-50 minutes, until a golden crust is formed on the top.

    

Take out of the oven and serve directly from the dish while the gratin is still hot.