Makaronopita is a lesser-known but delicious Greek pie, blending pasta with a creamy, savoury filling wrapped in crispy homemade or store bought phyllo dough.
It’s a comforting and flavourful dish, perfect for family dinners or special occasions.
This recipe balances savoury ingredients with a hint of spice, creating a harmonious blend that’s sure to impress.
About Makaronopita
Makaronopita is popular in northern Greece, where savoury pies are a staple of the regional cuisine.
Variations exist, sometimes including béchamel for a creamier texture or different cheeses for added depth of flavour.
It is a vegetarian dish, using the same tubular pasta used for pastitsio but it has lots of cheese, such as anthotyro, feta, graviera or other melting cheese, which are bound together with eggs and yoghourt.
My take on Makaronopita:
My take on this makaronopita is using ground meat as a filling, with vegetables, eggs and cheese to bind the pasta.
I served it with a seasonal salad made with cabbage and carrots.
Ingredients needed:
- Τubular pasta
- Salt
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Veal mince
- Onion
- Garlic
- Frozen peas
- Salt
- Pepper, cinnamon and allspice
- Carrot
- White dry wine
- Tomato puree
- Water
- Feta
- Graviera
- Parsley
- Eggs
- Phyllos
- Butter
- Extra virgin olive oil for brushing the phyllos
Here’s how to make this delicious pie step by step:
Prepare the filling:
Heat the extra virgin olive oil in a large pan. Add the veal mince and sauté until browned.
Stir in the finely chopped onion and garlic, cooking until softened and fragrant.
Add the peas, carrot, salt, black pepper, cinnamon, and allspice. Mix well.
Deglaze the pan with white wine, allowing the alcohol to evaporate.
Stir in the tomato puree and water. Cook over high heat until the liquid evaporates, approximately 10 minutes. Remove from heat, add the parsley, mix and let the mixture cool.
Once cooled, add eggs, and grated cheeses (feta and Graviera). Mix thoroughly.
Cook the Pasta:
Bring a pot of water to a boil, add 1 teaspoon of salt, and cook the tubular pasta for 6 minutes (two minutes less than the package instructions).
Drain the pasta and mix it into the minced meat filling.
Assemble the Pie:
Preheat your oven to 180°C (fan-forced).
Melt the sheep’s butter and combine it with 100 ml of olive oil.
Brush a 35 x 22 cm Pyrex dish with the butter-olive oil mixture. Layer six sheets of phyllo pastry, brushing each with the mixture and ensuring the edges overhang.
Spread the filling evenly over the phyllo base.
Fold the overhanging phyllos over the filling, brushing with more butter-olive oil mixture.
Grease one phyllo sheet, fold it in half, and place it on top of the filling. Repeat with another sheet.
Use the final phyllo sheet, greased and slightly crumpled, to top the pie. Brush generously with the butter-olive oil mixture.
Bake and Serve:
Lightly score the top of the pie into eight pieces, being careful not to cut through to the filling.
Lightly score the top of the pie into eight pieces, being careful not to cut through to the filling.
Allow the pie to cool slightly before serving. Pair with a fresh salad for a complete meal.
Greek Makaronopita (Minced Meat and Pasta Pie)
Makaronopita is a lesser-known but delicious Greek pie, blending pasta with a creamy, savoury filling wrapped in crispy phyllo dough.
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 400 grams lean veal mince
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
- 1 cup frozen peas
- 1 tsp salt
- A pinch of black pepper, cinnamon and allspice
- 1 carrot, finely chopped
- ¾ cup white dry wine
- ¼ cup tomato puree
- ½ cup water
- 70 grams feta
- 70 grams Graviera
- ¼ cup finely chopped parsley
- 2 eggs
- 150 grams tubular pasta
- 1 tsp salt
- 8 sheets of phyllos
- 50 grams melted sheep’s’ butter
- 100 ml extra virgin olive oil for brushing the phyllos
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil and sauté the minced meat.
- Add the onion, then the garlic and mix. Add the peas and carrot.
- Add the spices.
- Deglaze with the wine.
- Add the tomato puree and water and cook on high until all the fluids evaporate about 10 minutes. Add the parsley and mix.
- Set aside to cool.
- Add the eggs and the cheeses and mix.
- Meanwhile heat some water, add the salt and cook the pasta
for six minutes. (Two minutes less than what the package suggests). - Remove the cooked pasta into the sautéing pan and mix well.
- To assemble the pie: Melt the butter and mix in the olive oil
- Brush a 35 x 22 cm Pyrex pan with olive oil and layer six sheets of the phyllo, brushing each one with butter and olive oil making sure that that the phyllos overhang.
- Add the filling and spread it well. Fold the overhanging phyllos and if they are dry, brush them with the butter/olive oil mixture.
- Grease another phyllo and fold it in the middle. Add it on top of the filling.
- Repeat with another sheet of phyllo.
- Finally grease the last one and crease it to fit in the
Pyrex. Brush the top again with olive
oil / butter mixture. - Score the top just superficially not reaching the filling
into eight pieces. - Bake in a preheated fan forced oven at 180oC for 30 minutes.
- Allow to slightly cool and serve with a salad.
Nutrition Information
Yield 8 Serving Size 1Amount Per Serving Calories 422Total Fat 30gSaturated Fat 10gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 18gCholesterol 129mgSodium 816mgCarbohydrates 13gFiber 2gSugar 3gProtein 21g
"These values are automatically calculated and offered for guidance only. Their accuracy is not guaranteed."
Kopiaste and Kali Orexi,
