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DUBAI: Craving a delicious bechamel pasta dish? Then Stylianos Tereziou, head chef at Trump International Golf Club in Dubai, has a mouth-watering recipe to make at home.

He told Arab News: “Bechamel is a well-known dish in GCC countries and is widely consumed during Ramadan. But it is also a dish that we eat in Greece and is part of our tradition.”

Tereziou has added a twist to the dish by using chicken instead of beef.

Ingredients:

Chicken sauce

2 tablespoons olive oil

3 garlic cloves, finely minced

2 red onions, finely chopped (sub yellow or brown onions)

1 kilogram chicken minced

800g canned crushed tomato

2 chicken bouillon cubes, crumbled (stock cubes)

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1 teaspoon white sugar

1 bay leaf

1 cinnamon stick

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1 red chilli finely chopped

100g chopped coriander

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon black pepper

Greek bechamel

100g butter, unsalted

110g flour, plain/all-purpose

1 litre milk, whole/full fat

Nutmeg, preferably freshly grated

1/2 teaspoon salt

100g Kefalotyri Greek cheese (sub Parmesan or Romano), finely shredded

2 egg yolks (egg whites are used in the pasta)

Pasta

400g penne pasta

120g feta, crumbled

2 egg whites (yolks used in bechamel)

75g Kefalotyri Greek cheese (sub Parmesan or Romano), finely grated

Method:

Chicken sauce

Add the garlic and onion to a large pot over a high heat. Cook it for two to three minutes until the onion is softened. Then add the chicken and break it up as you stir.

Then add the remaining ingredients. Stir well, bring to a simmer, then reduce the heat to medium so it is simmering gently. Cook for 45 minutes to one hour until the liquid is mostly gone, stirring every now and then. It should be a thick mixture.

Remove the pot from the stove and cool it to room temperature.

Greek bechamel

Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the flour and stir for one minute.

While stirring, slowly pour in warm milk. Stir for five minutes – so the base does not stick – until it is thick enough, then remove it from the stove. Stir in the nutmeg, cheese, and salt.

Leave it for five minutes to cool. Then whisk in the egg yolks quickly. Place the lid on the pot and set aside. If the sauce cools and gets too thick to pour, just reheat on a low stove until it is pourable.

Pasta

When you are ready to assemble, cook the pasta per packet instructions, but deduct one minute. Drain it, then return it to the pot. Leave it to cool for three minutes, then stir through the egg whites. Gently stir through the crumbled feta.

Assemble and bake:

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Place the pasta (mixed with the egg white and feta cheese) in a baking dish. Top it with the chicken sauce, then smooth the surface. Pour over the bechamel sauce, then sprinkle over the cheese.

Bake for 30 minutes or until the crust turns golden. Cool for at least 10 minutes so you can cut neat slices with the layers neatly visible.

Courtesy: arabnews