Holy Timpano

Timpano

Last week I had Monday off for Memorial Day, and I fully intended to go hiking-to get out, breathe some fresh air and walk off some of the shortbread from the previous day. But nope, that wasn't in the cards. The skies opened and poured up again (great for the garden but bad for my plans) so after a whirlwind of much overdue "deep cleaning" in the house, I found myself parked at the table looking through an Italian cookbook I'd been given a couple years ago. I didn't find much I could make with what I had on hand, but it did give me an idea.

I had some extra time (pretty much never happens without somebody having a fever) and I had the lion's share of the ingredients I needed. I could make Timpano (you know, that crazy pasta dish they made at the dinner in the movie Big Night.) So, I traded in my cookbook for my laptop, and started looking at all manner of recipes for this monster pasta dish online, and cobbled together this recipe, which, if I do say so, turned out pretty darned good. Note: from beginning to end, the entire process took me about four hours, so schedule accordingly.

Timpano

Ingredients
Pasta Dough
2 cups flour (I used 1 cup of emmer flour and 1 cup of all purpose, but all AP flour would be fine.)
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 eggs, beaten
1 T olive oil
1 T white wine

Meatballs
1 pound ground beef (I used bison because that's what I had)
1 pound spicy Italian sausage
1 egg, beaten
1/4 grated parmesan
1 cup chopped, fresh parsley
1 cup bread crumbs
1/2 tsp salt

Sauce

1 jar of marinara 

1/4 cup of fresh oregano (normally I would use basil, but at this time of year, it isn't "in" yet, and oregano was)

1 medium carrot, chopped into half inch dice

1 stalk of celery with the leaves, chopped into half inch dice

1 medium onion, chopped into half inch dice

4 cloves of garlic, minced

1/2 cup white wine

1 T tomato paste

salt & pepper to taste

The Rest

1/2 box of mini penne pasta, cooked al dente, drained and cooled

3 eggs, hard boiled and quartered

1/2 lb. fresh mozzarella

1/2 lb. thin sliced salami

Olive oil for sauteing, and for coating baking "dish"

Make the pasta. Combine your dry pasta ingredients in a medium bowl with a fork. Add remaining liquid ingredients and whip together with a fork, and finally combining by hand. Transfer to a clean, floured surface and knead for 10 minutes. Let the dough rest, wrapped in plastic wrap, at room temperature for an hour. 

Make the meatballs. Combine all of the meatball ingredients. Roll out all of the mix into 1-inch meatballs. Swirl olive oil into a large, non-stick pan over medium heat. Add meatballs to pan. Brown on all sides, rotating pan periodically, until meatballs are cooked through, about 20 minutes. Remove cooked meatballs and set aside in bowl. (I always set a few aside to freeze for a future gift to self: meatball sandwich :)

Make the sauce. Add another swirl of olive oil to the "meatball pan." Add all of the vegetables except the garlic. Saute until they appear to soften, about 6 minutes, stirring periodically. Add garlic and continue to cook for another 3 minutes, stirring regularly. Add tomato paste, and cook for another 2 minutes. Add wine and raise heat to medium high. Cook until almost all of the wine is gone. Add the marinara sauce. Stir, and reduce heat to low. Let it simmer for 45 minutes uncovered. Add oregano, taste and add salt to your preference.
 

Build your timpano. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Oil your baking pan or large, stainless steel bowl. I used my risotto pan which is about 12 inches across and 5 inches deep. Roll out pasta dough on a clean, floured surface into a thin, round sheet. Place over your baking dish, and allow to "form fit", leaving at least a few inches of overhang. Layer into the timpano: a third of the penne, then a third of the sauce, then a third of the cheese, then a third of the meatballs, and hard boiled eggs. Repeat with remaining pasta, sauce, meatballs, cheese and eggs. Cover all with sliced salami. Fold the edges up over the salami. Cover with foil and bake covered for 45 minutes. Uncover, and bake another 45 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to rest 10 minutes. Cover with a large plate, and invert, removing the baking dish. Ta da-timpano!

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