Herb Skillet Pastitsio

 I enjoying finding and trying new recipes from my Better Homes & Garden magazine.  Looking through a new issue is one of my favorite ways to spend a Saturday before going food shopping.  This recipe for Herb Skillet Pastitsio comes from the January 2021 edition.  I'm always looking for a new way to jazz up hamburger, so I thought I'd try this one.

Anyone who knows me from my childhood knows that I am a picky eater.  While my tastes have broaden slightly as an adult, I'm still cautious when trying a new recipe.  So, the ingredients in this recipe seemed pretty safe: hamburger, onion, garlic, tomato sauce, oregano, ziti pasta, and Laredo sauce.  The only ingredient I questioned was the cinnamon.  In my mind, cinnamon is a great dessert spice, but doesn't belong in a savory dish.  I am intrigued that the recipe uses both a red tomato sauce and a white Alfredo sauce at the same time.  But I'm trying new things this year, so here we go.

The process of making this recipe was pretty easy.  It was a little more work than making Hamburger Helper, but over all not too bad.  I think it took me 45 minutes to complete (the recipe states 40 minutes.).  I liked putting the whole skillet into the oven under the broiler was a pretty ingenious way to brown the Alfredo sauce.  (It also tricked my husband and kids into thinking it was just melted mozzarella cheese.)

I didn't have fresh oregano, but other than that, my picture looks pretty similar to what was in the magazine.

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So, how did it turn out?

Fine.  Like I wrote earlier, this recipe reminded me a lot of Hamburger Helper.  The cinnamon made you think "this is different" with each bite.  I wonder if using ground lamb would make a difference and worked better with the cinnamon.  The recipe suggests lamb as an alternative protein.  (I've only had lamb as a child with mint jelly sauce.)  I really liked the combined tastes from both red and white sauces.

How did the family like it?

Nate didn't like it at all.  While he ate it, I did get a "don't ever make that again" look from him.  Message received.  He doesn't like either excessive cinnamon or Alfredo sauce.  Oops.

Two of four kids liked it, but the other two were on the verge of throwing a tantrum.  

Overall, this recipe receives 2 stars from the Calls and will be purged from my recipe file.  The unique flavors that I didn't mind, weren't worth the dirty looks from half my family.