My Big Fat Greek Mama

One of the things on my 30 before 30 "to do" list is to learn to make my favorite Greek dishes, Spanakopita, Dolmades and Pastitsio. Oh, I'm Greek for those of you who don't know...this isn't completely random. Anyways, a couple of weeks ago my Big Fat Greek Mama and I spent the day together and she taught me how to make Pastitsio, which is basically a Greek lasagna.

We started by going to Bill's Imported Food's which is a little deli and grocery store in Uptown owned by an adorable Greek couple. We even got some Pastitsio tips from the cashier (who I am assuming is one of the owners).



We got back to my mom's and it was full-on Greek cooking time! A little cooking tip from my mom---wear sunglasses while chopping onions:



Making the meat sauce:



I love these big fat Greek noodles:



Making Greek food truly does dirty every dish in the house:



I not only learned how to make a roux, but I learned what the hell a rue was (a mixture of butter and flour, cooked until bubbly and used as a base for sauces---for you cooking novices like myself).



Putting together my Pastitsio:



Time to go in the oven:



Me and my Big Fat Greek Mama and our Pasitsio:



It looked like Pastitsio, it smelled like Pastitsio and shockingly it tasted like Pastitsio!!!


This was definitely a tough recipe, so I might need my mom's assistance a few more times before tackling it on my own. But, I am so glad I got to learn and it was a blast hanging out with my mom all afternoon.