Meliz Berg's Cypriot pasta bake
We’re a week into the Easter Holidays, so if you’re in desperate need of an easy crowd pleaser, Meliz has the family favourite you need. She’s combining halloumi, beef and béchamel sauce in the kitchen, to create her Cypriot Pasta Bake.
Cypriot pasta bake
Serves 6-8
Ingredients
For the hellim (halloumi) béchamel sauce:
100g unsalted butter100g plain flour 1.2 litres milk1 bay leaf150g halloumi cheese, finely grated½ tsp coarse black pepper 2 tbsp dried mint4 medium eggs1 tsp sesame seeds
For the pasta: 2 tbsp fine sea salt500g long tubular pasta (bucatini)150g halloumi cheese, finely grated1 tsp dried mint
For the meat filling: 3 tbsp olive oil 750g minced beef1 tsp ground cinnamon1 tbsp dried mint3 onions, finely chopped 1 tsp fine sea salt1 tsp ground black pepper 50g fresh flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
Top tip: If you want to make this meat-free, replace the beef with 600g finely chopped chestnut mushrooms and 250g pre-cooked Puy lentils.
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas mark 6.
2. To prepare the béchamel, melt the butter in a pan over a medium-low heat, then whisk in the flour to form a roux. Once the roux starts to bubble, add the milk a little at a time, throwing in the bay leaf and whisking continuously. Keep adding more milk as and when the sauce thickens and bubbles. When all the milk has been combined and the sauce starts to come to the boil, remove from the heat. Stir in the halloumi, pepper and dried mint until the cheese melts into the sauce a little. Leave to one side until later.
3. For the pasta, fill a large pan with cold water, put the lid on and place it on the hob over a high heat.
4. To make the meat filling, heat the olive oil in another large pan over a medium-high heat. Once hot, add the minced beef to the pan, breaking it up with a spoon. Keep browning the beef for 5-6 minutes, add the cinnamon and dried mint, giving it all a good stir, then add the onions. Reduce the heat and cook everything for around 10-12 minutes.
5. Once the water in the pan is boiling add two tbsp of sea salt, followed by the pasta. Gently push down on the pasta tubes as they soften, so that the pasta is fully immersed. The tubes will need 12-15 minutes, but check them after 12 minutes, as the pasta shouldn’t be too soft.
6. Whilst the pasta cooks, return to the meat filling: once the onions have softened, season with the fine sea salt and ground black pepper, stir through the parsley, cook for another minute, then remove the pan from the heat.
7. Remove half of the cooked pasta from the water with a slotted spoon, and place into a deep baking tray or dish (approximately 34x24cm, around 6cm deep).
8. Mix together the grated halloumi with 1 tsp of dried mint, and add half of it to the pasta in the dish, gently stirring through the tubes. Place all of the meat filling on top, followed by the remaining pasta, then sprinkle the rest of the halloumi and mint mixture on top.
9. Remove the bay leaf from the béchamel. Whisk together the eggs in a bowl until they are light and fluffy, then slowly pour them into the béchamel, whisking constantly until they are fully amalgamated in the creamy sauce.
10. Pour the béchamel over the top of the traybake in one even layer. Sprinkle over the sesame seeds, and bake in the oven for 35-45 minutes, or until golden brown. Let the bake stand for at least 30 minutes to cool down a little and for the layers to firm up before serving.