Athenian Pastitsio (Παστίτσιο Αθηναϊκό)

Athenian pastitsio is the baked pasta of the Sunday table: thick tubular macaroni below, cinnamon-scented mince in the middle, and a deep, pale bechamel cap browned just enough on top. It is generous food, cut in squares, the kind that waits on the counter while everyone finds a chair.

The method that decides it is the base layer. Toss the drained macaroni with egg and grated kefalotyri before it goes into the pan, so the bottom sets and holds the sauce above it. Without that small binding, the first slice collapses into pasta and meat sauce. Still delicious, yes, but not pastitsio as Athens knows it.

Let it rest before cutting. This is not punishment, only sense. Twenty-five minutes on the counter gives the bechamel time to settle and the layers time to remember where they belong. My mother Sofia was strict about this, and she was right.