Facts About Timballo
Timballo is an Italian baked dish consisting of pasta, rice, or potatoes, with one or more other ingredients included. Variations include the timballo Alberoni, combining macaroni, shrimp sauce, mushrooms, butter and cheese, and named for Giulio Alberoni, and the Timballo Pattadese.
Etymology
The name comes from the French word for kettledrum (timbale). Varieties of Timballo differ from region to region, and it is sometimes known as a bomba, tortino, sartu (a Neapolitan interpretation) or pasticcio (which is used more commonly to refer to a similar dish baked in a pastry crust). It is also known as timpano and Timbale (food). It is similar to a casserole and is sometimes referred to in English as a pie or savory cake.
Preparation
The dish is prepared in a dome or springform pan and eggs or cheese are used as a binder. Rice is commonly used as an ingredient in Emilia-Romagna, where the dish is referred to as a bomba and baked with a filling of pigeon or other game bird, peas, local cheese and a base of dried pasta. Crêpes are used as a base in Abruzzo, and other regions use ravioli or gnocchi. In Sicily, it's typically made with pasta and eggplant.
Mushroom sauce or fonduta, a rich Piedmontese cheese soup and sauce, are sometimes used, and Anna Del Conte wrote that Béchamel is the most consistently used ingredient in timballos.
In popular culture
Timballo featured prominently in the 1996 film Big Night, although the dish there is referred to as timpano (a regional or family term). The movie seems to have increased the popularity of the dish.
YouTube personality Andrew Rea from the cooking show Binging with Babish recreated the "timpano" from Big Night in a February 2016 episode of his show.
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