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Title: Timballo Di Tagliolini (Pastry Drum With Fine Egg Pasta)
Yield: 1 Serving

Ingredients

           For the timballo pastry:
      3 c  cake flour
    1/2 ts salt
      2 tb sugar
      8 tb butter (1 stick); room
           -temperature
      1 lg egg
      5 tb milk (5-6)
           For the ground meat ragu
           -(about 4 1
           cups):
      1 c  finely chopped onion
      1 c  chopped carrot
      1 c  chopped celery (including a
           -few lea
      3 tb extra-virgin olive oil
      1 lb ground beef (85% lean)
      3 tb dry marsala or tawny port
    1/4 c  dry white wine
      2 cn peeled plum tomatoes
           -(28-ounce each; drained
      1 ts salt
           For the white sauce:
      2 tb butter
      2 tb flour
  1 1/2 c  milk
    1/4 ts salt
           Several gratings of nutmeg
    1/8 ts freshly ground black pepper
           Plus:
      1 pk frozen small peas (10 oz);
           -defrosted
      1 tb butter
      1 pk dried egg tagliolini or
           -tagliarini
           called fine fettuccine) (8
           -3/4 oz)
      1 c  grated Parmigiano Reggiano
      1    egg; beaten for the egg
           wash

Instructions

Notes:

"There are 15 recipes called timballo or timpano in Jeanne Carola
FrancesconiĦs "La cucina napoletana" (Neapolitan Cooking), which
is often called the bible of Neapolitan cooking. Both words mean
the same thing -- a drum, as in the timpani of a symphony
orchestra. A few years ago, in a movie called "Big Night," the
preparation of a timballo di maccheroni was featured and made a
big impression on audiences. Recipes for timballi ran in
newspaper food sections and suddenly the dish came to the
attention of Americans.

Timballo or timpano -- the words are used interchangeably but
timballo is more popular -- are from the aristocratic Monzu
tradition, but they are still made today -- not necessary much by
home cooks, but certainly by caterers and shops that make such
elaborate dishes to take away. (At L.U.I.S.E., the tavola calda
on the Piazza dei Martiri, at the heart of Naples' fancy Chiaia
shopping section, you can usually buy some kind of timballo by
the slice and eat it at the counter for lunch.). Pasta of some
kind, ragu, sausage, tiny meatballs, salami, prosciutto, porcini,
green peas, cheeses, hard-cooked eggs, chicken livers -- in
short, all the ingredients that might go into an elaborate baked
pasta can also be layered in a sweetened pastry crust and baked
into a free-standing drum. It makes quite a visual sensation on
the dinner table and is extremely delicious, too.

This particular timballo uses egg pasta instead of macaroni, is
based on a ground meat ragu (ragu di macinato, is how they refer
to such a sauce in Campania) not a classic Neapolitan ragu, and
contains white sauce. I ignorantly considered that these touches
might have been borrowed from Emilia- Romagna, but when I
remarked about that possibility to a Neapolitan friend, she got
in a huff. "You think only the Bolognese know how to make egg
pasta and white sauce?"

Method:

To make the pastry:

1. Combine the dry ingredients in the bowl of a food processor,
fitted with a metal blade, then add the butter cut into 1-inch
pieces. Pulse the flour mixture and butter together until the
mixture resembles coarse meal. In a small bowl, beat together the
egg and the lesser amount of milk, then pour it into the work
bowl. Pulse a dozen or so times to mix thoroughly, then let the
motor run a few seconds, until the dough gathers into a ball. If
the dough seems dry and doesnĦt quite hold together, add a little
more milk. Remove the dough from the food processor bowl and
place it on a board. Knead it a few times. Let it rest under a
kitchen towel. Divide the dough into 2 portions, one about 3/4 of
the dough for the bottom of the drum, the remaining 1/4 for the
top crust. Form two 1-inch-thick disks, wrap them in plastic and
refrigerate (to rest) for at least 30 minutes. (If refrigerated
longer, return to room temperature before rolling.)

To make the ragu:

2. In a 3-quart saucepan or casserole, combine the onion, carrot,
celery and olive oil. Set over medium heat and cook, stirring
frequently, until the vegetables are soft and beginning to brown,
about 20 minutes. Add the chopped beef and stir well to mix with
the vegetables. Continue cooking over medium heat until the meat
has lost all its raw color and has started to brown, about 20
minutes. Add the Marsala and the white wine. Let cook another 3
minutes. Add the pureed canned tomatoes and salt. Simmer very
gently, uncovered, for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, stirring every 15
minutes or so and making sure to scrape down the sides of the pan
every time you stir. When finished, the meat should still be
covered with sauce. Add water a little at a time, if necessary.
Allow the sauce to cool, then skim off any fat that has risen to
the surface. The sauce can be made ahead, cooled and refrigerated
until the timballo will be assembled, but make sure to cool it to
room temperature, without stirring, before refrigerating. That
allows more fat to separate and rise to the top.
3. Just before assembling the timballo, with the sauce skimmed
and just warm, pour the sauce into a strainer and strain the meat
out of the sauce. Reserve the meat and sauce separately. You
should have a little more than 1 cup of sauce without meat.

To make the white sauce:

4. In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. Stir in
the flour and cook for about 2 minutes. Pour in the milk and stir
vigorously to combine. Stirring constantly, cook until sauce
simmers and thickens, about 5 minutes. Season with salt, nutmeg
and pepper. Cover and set aside.

To prepare the peas:

5. Place the peas in a skillet with one tablespoon butter. Cook,
stirring occasionally, over medium high heat, until heated
through, about 2 minutes. Cover and set aside.

To assemble and bake the timballo:

6. Butter a 9-inch springform pan. Preheat the oven to 425
degrees.

7. On a lightly floured board, roll out the larger disk of dough
into a circle at least 16 inches in diameter -- large enough to
cover the bottom and sides of a 9-inch springform pan. Then roll
out the small disk into a circle at least 11 inches across.

8. Gently drape the larger circle of dough over the springform
and carefully fit it into the pan. Let the excess dough hang over
the edge of the pan. Set aside covered with a dish towel to
prevent drying.

9. Boil the tagliarini in salted water until not quite done.
Drain it, then toss it in a bowl with the strained sauce from the
ragu, mixing well.

10. Make a layer of half the pasta on the bottom of the
pastry-lined pan. Make a layer of half the meat. Make a layer of
half the white sauce, then half the peas, then half the grated
cheese. Repeat with a layer of pasta, meat, white sauce, peas and
cheese. (There will be some sauce left in the pasta bowl. Mix it
back into the remaining meat for the last layer of meat.)

11. Cover with the top crust and cut the pastry to shape. Brush
the edge of the circle with the beaten egg and pinch together.
Use the remaining egg wash to brush on the top pastry. Cut 2 or 3
slits in the pastry.

12. Place the timballo in the next-to-the-lowest rack for about
an hour, until the pastry is well browned. If necessary, after 20
to 30 minutes, drape a piece of aluminum foil over the top to
prevent it from browning too much. Remove the foil for the last 5
to 10 minutes of baking to make sure the top is well browned.
When done, the pastry will have pulled away from the sides of the
pan slightly.

13. Let the timballo cool 10 minutes, then remove the springform
ring and slide the timballo onto a serving platter. Serve hot.

Copyright c 1998 StarChefs. All rights reserved.

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1 1/2 Other Carbohydrates

NOTES : Arthur Schwatrz: Serves 8 as a main course or the first course of
an elaborate menu

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Preparation Time: 0:00

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