The baked Greek pasta dish that layers pasta, ground meat, and béchamel sauce is pastitsio.
Modern Greek pastitsio usually has a bottom layer of tubular pasta, a middle layer of minced meat cooked with tomato and spices, and a creamy béchamel topping. It is baked until the top sets and browns, then cut into square portions like a casserole.
The name comes from the Italian pasticcio, a broad family of baked savory dishes documented by the 16th century. Greek chef Nikolaos Tselementes helped popularize the béchamel-topped style in the early 20th century, giving the dish its familiar French-influenced finish.
Pastitsio is often confused with moussaka because both are layered Greek casseroles and may contain minced meat and béchamel. Moussaka is built around vegetables such as eggplant or potato, whereas pastitsio is defined by its pasta layers. Giouvetsi is another baked Greek dish, but it uses meat with kritharaki, a rice-shaped pasta.