A Dish for a Big Night: Timballo from Abruzzo
For cinema fans, an often overlooked cult classic of mid-nineties was the Stanley Tucci film about Italian food, and two Italian brothers that were trying to make it big in the US called The Big Night. At the film’s climax, as Stanley Tucci and ‘brother’ Tony Shaloub are preparing for the most important dinner party of their lives, the eponymous big night, tensions rise as they begin to plate their masterpiece: an intricate family dish known as Timpano. While the entire film is delicious and funnily touching, one’s mouth waters as they imagine slicing into and tasting the Timpano.
However, what is not obvious in the film is that timpano is actually the brothers’ local name for a dish that is spread in variations throughout Italy: a dish called Timballo. Today we picked the brain of Abruzzese Gaia Cioci for her family recipe and variation from Abruzzo, the lasagna-like Timballo di Teramo. Before diving into this dish and recipe, you can learn more about Abruzzo in our article about the region, and pour yourself a glass of natural wine from the Febo family as you learn their family history of winemaking in Abruzzo.
Timballo di Teramo
Like so many Italian dishes, Timballo is found in many forms throughout Italy, the variations all depending upon the local culture and diversity of that particular region (and, to be honest, the individual Nonnas you talk to!). At its most essential core, to American eyes, it would resemble what we know as ‘Lasagna’. In some regions they use rice, pasta, potatoes. Others use lamb, pigeon, eggs, or eggplant. In Teramo, in Abruzzo, the thin eggy crepe known as scrippelle (like those used in the scrippelle ‘mbusse we cooked in our last article) are used to make the layers and the sheep-based pecorino is used in between the layers. You can read more about Abruzzese cuisine and its influences in our article about the subject. Interspersed in between the layers of scrippelle, are mini-meatballs (if you wanted to give a vegetarian twist to the dish, we don’t see why you cannot substitute the Abruzzese pallotte cacio e uova or vegetarian egg and cheese meatballs) and a simple yet flavorful tomato sauce.
Vero founder Sheila Donohue put on her test kitchen chef’s hat and gave the recipe a try (of course pairing it after with a glass of Montepulciano d’Abruzzo after). She recommends to not skimp on the tomato sauce, and make it simple. “Timballo is better when nice and moist, so use lots of sauce” she said. We love to make a little extra for security’s sake, because you can always use it later to dress a little pasta for a quick and simple pasta al pomodoro. Keep the sauce simple with just a few herbs, like basil or oregano, but you can experiment to find what flavors you like the best. Sheila also noted, keep the meatballs small; too big, and the dish becomes hard to build.
Try Timballo with Febo’s Natural Wines
In Abruzzo, the Febo winemaking family has made natural wines for generations that cover a wide variety of styles that can pair with so many different dishes from all over the world, especially Timballo di Teramo! From their trebbiano abruzzese white wine, Parella, to a pecorino, Rolland (the wine grape not the cheese!), to a Cerasuolo d’Abruzzo rosè, or a Montepulciano d’Abruzzo red wine, their monovarietal natural wines let you taste the hallmarks of the different Abruzzese native wine grapes. You can also sip along as you read and listen to sister and brother winemakers Laura and Davide Febo at our recent VeroTalk.
We recommend also trying Febo’s organic extra virgin olive oil too. Just imported in, we were able to grab some of their family’s private stash. Fragrant with a peppery finish (hmmm, are those polyphenols we taste?), it is an EVOO that can be used to dip bread in just as easily as dress a salad or drizzle over finished dish for a touch of elegance.
Try the recipe out for yourself below, and taste a little bit of Abruzzo, wherever you are!
Timballo di Teramo – Abruzzese Lasagna
Cooking and Prep Time: 35 minutes - 1 hour
Portions: 4 portions
Ingredients:
For Sauce:
1 Garlic Clove, minced
½ Onion, chopped finely
3 cups Tomato Sauce
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Optional Herbs such as Basil, Oregano, Rosemary
Salt/Pepper
For Scrippelle Crepes:
4-5 tablespoons Flour
4 Eggs
1 tablespoon Butter, melted
3 tablespoons Milk
Dash Ground Nutmeg
Pinch Salt
For Meatballs:
½ - ¾ pounds of Ground Beef and/or Pork
3 tablespoon Grated Pecorino
3 tablespoon Breadcrumbs
1 Egg
Salt/Pepper to taste
For Timballo Layers:
2 cups Mozzarella in small cubes
1 cup Grated Parmesan or Pecorino
1 stick Butter
1 Egg (for egg wash)
Suggested Wine Pairings
Natural Wines from Febo Winery:
Parella White Wine
Rolland Pecorino Wine
Cerasuolo d’Abruzzo Rosè Wine
Montepulciano d’Abruzzo Red Wine
Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Procedure:
1. Prepare your sauce by gently sauteing the chopped onion in extra virgin olive oil until soft, then adding the minced garlic. Before allowing them to brown, add the tomato sauce. Bring to a simmer and add your herbs of choice and salt/pepper. Let gently simmer for 15-20 minutes while preparing the rest of the Timballo components.
2. Prepare next your scrippelle (read the full article on scrippelle here) by sifting the flour and stirring in the eggs, melted butter, nutmeg and salt. Slowly add the milk a little at a time until a smooth consistency of crepe batter or a very loose pancake batter. Cover and let it rest for half an hour. Then heat a small skillet or a crepe pan on the stove. Lightly grease the pan with a small amount of butter, then gently ladle enough batter to coat the bottom of the skillet, rotating the skillet gently to allow the batter to form an even, thin layer across the bottom of the skillet. After a few moments when the scrippelle is set and the edges are turning a golden color, gently flip it and let it cook a moment more on the other side. Remove, set aside and continue until all the batter has been used.
3. For the last component of the Timballo, mix the ground meat, egg, pecorino and breadcrumbs with a little salt and pepper. Form a series of very small meatballs, approximately marble sized, using all the available meat. Once you have your meatballs, heat some extra virgin olive oil in a skillet or saucepan and fry the meatballs until cooked through. By keeping them small this should be just 3-4 minutes. Pat them dry with paper towels and set aside.
4. Now begin to build the Timballo, first by greasing a 9x12 lasagna or cake pan. Your first layer will be constructed of scrippelle, then mozzarella cubes interspersed with mini-meatballs, then some sauce to cover them. Finish the layer with a sprinkling of parmesan or pecorino and tabs of butter.
5. Begin to lay down the second layer, repeating the order from previously: scrippelle, mozzarella, meatballs, tomato sauce, parmesan or pecorino, and butter.
6. Build the third and final layer repeating again scrippelle, mozzarella, meatballs, tomato sauce, parmesan and butter.
7. To finish off the Timballo, lay a layer of scrippelle, tabs of butter, and finally a light egg wash for color.
8. Bake the Timballo in an oven at 350o for about 30 minutes, or until the top is a dark golden brown and bubbly. Cut into square portions to serve hot with a glass of natural wine.
N.B. This recipe is courtesy of the Gaia Cioci from Abruzzo, Italy.
Shop Wines and Olive Oils from Febo to Taste a Little Bit of Abruzzo
