Chicken Pastitsio

I came back running 8K race. It called Jingle bell all the way. It was a fun race. I was hungry but I didn't want to eat outside this time for a change. I had still energy to cook something and I was searching to find something rich. I found this recipe called chicken pastitsio. It is a Greek dish.
The cookbook called best -ever chicken, published by HH. I made some changes recipe didn't have eggplant but I added eggplant. It wasn't easy recipe especially, after running 5 miles but I cooked it anyway. I was very happy about it. It was delicious.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Baking time: 30-35 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 lb ground chicken
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• coarse salt and ground black pepper
• 5 tbsp tomato paste
• 1-1/4 cup red wine or beef stock
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon (use less if you like)
• 1big eggplant cut slices-grill both sides.
• 2-1/2 cups cooked tubular pasta (macaroni, penne etc.)
• 1-1/4 cup milk
• 2 tbsp butter
• 4 tbsp all-purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp grated nutmeg
• 2 tomatoes, sliced
• 4 tbsp whole wheat breadcrumbs
• chopped fresh parsley (for garnish)

1. Preheat the oven to 425 F and if you wish line a wide casserole dish with foil for easy clean up. Heat oil in a large shallow skillet, on medium high heat, and cook the ground chicken, onion and garlic. Season the mixture with salt and pepper. Keep cooking, stirring occasionally, until lightly brown in colour. Stir in the tomato paste, red wine and cinnamon. Add a bit more liquid if needed. Once everything is cooked through turn the heat off.
 2. To make the béchamel sauce, pour in the milk, butter and flour into a saucepan. On medium heat, whisk the ingredients together until thick and smooth. Add in the nutmeg and season with salt and pepper to taste.
3. Layering the casserole: Put grilled eggplants slices bottom of the pan.  Ladle the chicken sauce into the bottom of the casserole dish, then layer on the cooked pasta on top, then finally pour on the béchamel sauce. Place the sliced tomatoes evenly over top of the béchamel covered pasta, sprinkle the breadcrumbs on top, drizzle with a little bit of olive oil and place in the oven to bake for 30-35 minutes. Serve immediately.