Pasticho Venezolano
Pasticho Venezolano
With Italy being a huge influence on their cuisine, pasticho is the Venezuelan version of lasagne. The use of soy sauce and worchestershire sauce is commonly used in Venezuelan cooking, giving the red sauce in the pasticho a unique flavor. This pasticho requires a lot of prep work, patience, and the willingness to do more dishes than you’d want. But this Venezuelan lasagne is unbelievably tasty. Instead of eating the whole pan yourself, portion out any leftovers and freeze down on a baking sheet. Place each portion in a vacuum sealed bag and vacuum seal. Place in the freezer until ready for use.
Ingredients
- 1 lb lasagne noodles prepared according to package directions
- 2 cups mozzarella cheese shredded
- 1/2 cups parmesan cheese
Red Sauce
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 medium onion diced
- 5 garlic cloves minced
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 5 roma tomatoes diced
- 1 can tomato paste 6oz
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp dried basil
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1/2 cup red wine
White Sauce
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1/2 cup flour
- 4 1/2 cups whole milk
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp white pepper
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- 1/2 cup parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Prepare lasagne noodles according to package directions. Drain and rinse under cold water. Set aside.
Red Sauce
- Heat up oil in a sauté pan over medium high heat. Sauté the onions and garlic for 5 minutes.
- Add in the ground beef. Brown for 6 minutes. Season with soy sauce and Worcestershire sauce.
- Stir in the tomato paste. Cook for a minute.
- Add in the tomatoes and sugar. Cook down for 5 minutes. Season with the dried basil and oregano.
- Pour in the red wine. Simmer over medium heat for 30 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.
White Sauce
- Whisk butter and flour together in a pot over medium heat. Cook for 2 minutes.
- Pour in the milk. Whisk out the lumps.
- Whisk in the parmesan, salt, white pepper, and nutmeg. Cook for 4-5 minutes until the cream sauce thickens.
Pasticho Assembly
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Ladle a large scoop of white sauce to the bottom of a 9”x13” glass baking dish.
- Place a layer of noodles on the bottom.
- Ladle 1/3 of the red sauce over the noodles.
- Place another layer of noodles over the red sauce. Ladle another scoop of white sauce over the noodles. Top with 1/2 cup of mozzarella and a dusting of parmesan.
- Repeat the previous 3 steps 2 more times. Top the pasticho with the remaining white sauce, mozzarella, and parmesan.
- Cover with foil. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and place under the broiler for 3-4 minutes until the cheese is bubbly and golden brown. Let rest for 15 minutes before serving.
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