Timpano

From Burden's Landing

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Recipe

Notes on the ragu.

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Timpano is such a production, it seems wrong to make it with dried penne or ziti. Both times I made it, we made fresh penne. I can't remember the exact amount we made the first time and we had a bunch of people helping. The second time was just Lisa and me. We made six cups of flour worth (with about 8 eggs and some water), resulting in about 3 pounds of penne. It was way too much. I think four cups of flour would have been perfect.

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Notes on the polpette. The first time I made it, I made the meatballs rather large (not according to the recipe, which called for half-inch diameter meatballs). The second time we made it, Lisa made them the right size.

Rolling the crust.

Layering the timpano.

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Cooking.

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Carving.

Notes

The first time I made timpano was on June 23-24, 2007. Because of the daunting nature of the task, I invited a ton of people (about 30 people over two nights) to come help make it. It was great, and it was fun, but it also presented some new challenges. First, we had to make two timpanos, including a vegetarian (for the vegetarians and non-pork eaters). Second, we did it over the courser of two nights, and we had to feed people both nights. Third, we had a bunch of people cooking in the kitchen on Sunday night, and because I only have one timpano pot, it was a kitchen nightmare.

Here was the final rundown on ingredients for the two timpanos:

  • 9 lbs flour
  • 1 loaf bread
  • 5 lbs tomatoes
  • 2 heads garlic
  • 3 lbs summer squash
  • 1 lb mushrooms
  • 1 bottle olive oil
  • 2 lbs beef
  • 1 lb pork
  • 1 lb salami
  • 0 lbs fake meat
  • 1 lb pecorino romano
  • 1 lb mozzarella
  • 1/2 lb provolone
  • 50 eggs (should have been 51 but we removed one to lower the calories)

I made timpano with Lisa on February 13-14, 2010. I was confident I could do it with just Lisa because 1. I knew what I was doing this time; 2. I'm much more skilled at making pasta than I was three years ago; and 3. having so many people around the first time added its own stress. As I suspected, it was a lot less stressful this time around, and even though it was hard work, I didn't feel exhausted by the end.

However, the timpano did not turn out as well as it did the first time. My only explanation for this is that, for some reason, I was scrutinizing the recipe this time around. This is not how I normally cook, and it wasn't how I made the timpano the first time. (Back then, I was under so much time pressure, I didn't have time to screw around with measurements.) For some reason (probably fixed mindset, or a fear of not living up to previous standards), I didn't just trust my instincts. We had too much penne (I made six cups of flour worth, whereas I could have gotten away with four), which diluted the effect of the ragu. I also should have added much more pecorino. Because the pasta layers were so thick, the flavor did not meld throughout the entire timpano. There was flavor in the middle sandwiched around smushed, unseasoned penne.

It was still tasty, but not up to my usual standards.