1 hour 15 minutes
Timpano alla “Big Night”
- Yield 16 servings
- Time 3 hours, plus resting
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Samuel Goldwyn Company/Photofest
Ingredients
For the dough
- 4 cups all-purpose flour, more for dusting
- 4 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 3 tablespoons olive oil, more for greasing pan
- Butter
For the filling
- 4 cups 1/4-inch by 1/2-inch Genoa salami pieces, cut 1/4-inch thick
- 4 cups sharp provolone cheese chunks, about 1/4 by 1/2 inch
- 12 hard-cooked eggs, shelled and quartered lengthwise, each quarter cut in half
- 4 cups small meatballs
- 7 ½ cups Tucci ragù sauce, meat removed and reserved for another use
- 3 pounds ziti, cooked very al dente (about half the time recommended on the package) and drained
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 cup finely grated pecorino Romano
- 6 large eggs, beaten
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Nutritional Information
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Nutritional analysis per serving (16 servings)
1032 calories; 56 grams fat; 23 grams saturated fat; 1 gram trans fat; 23 grams monounsaturated fat; 6 grams polyunsaturated fat; 66 grams carbohydrates; 3 grams dietary fiber; 3 grams sugars; 63 grams protein; 1566 milligrams sodium;
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. -
Preparation
- Prepare the dough: Place flour, eggs, salt and olive oil in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook. (A large-capacity food processor may also be used.) Add 3 tablespoons water and process. Add more water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until mixture comes together and forms a ball. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead to make sure it is well mixed, about 10 minutes. Set aside to rest for 5 minutes. (The dough may be made in advance and refrigerated overnight; return to room temperature before rolling out.)
- Flatten dough on a lightly floured work surface. Dust top with flour and roll it out, dusting with flour and flipping the dough over from time to time, until it is about 1/16-inch thick and is the desired diameter. (To calculate the diameter for the dough round, add the diameter of the bottom of a heavy 6-quart baking pan, the diameter of the top of the pan and twice the height of the pan.) Grease the baking pan generously with butter and olive oil. Fold dough in half and then in half again, to form a triangle, and place in pan. Open dough and arrange it in the pan, gently pressing it against the bottom and the sides, draping extra dough over the sides. Set aside.
- Prepare the filling: Heat oven to 350 degrees. Have salami, provolone, hard-cooked eggs, meatballs and ragù sauce at room temperature. Stir 1/2 cup water into sauce to thin it. Toss pasta with olive oil and allow to cool slightly before tossing with 2 cups sauce. Distribute 4 generous cups of pasta on bottom of timpano. Top with 1 cup salami, 1 cup provolone, 3 eggs, 1 cup meatballs and 1/3 cup Romano cheese. Pour 2 cups sauce over ingredients. Repeat process to create additional layers until filling comes within 1 inch of the top of the pan, ending with 2 cups sauce. Pour beaten eggs over the filling. Fold pasta dough over filling to seal completely. Trim away and discard any double layers of dough. Make sure timpano is tightly sealed. If you notice any small openings cut a piece of trimmed dough to fit over opening. Use a small amount of water to moisten these scraps of dough to ensure that a tight seal has been made.
- Bake until lightly browned, about 1 hour. Cover with aluminum foil and continue baking until the timpano is cooked through and the dough is golden brown (and reaches an internal temperature of 120 degrees), about 30 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to rest for 30 or more minutes to allow timpano to cool and contract before attempting to remove from pan. The baked timpano should not adhere to the pan. To test, gently shake pan to the left and then to the right. It should slightly spin in the pan. If any part is still attached, carefully detach with a knife.
- To remove timpano from pan, place a baking sheet or thin cutting board that covers the entire diameter on the pan on top of the timpano. Grasp the baking sheet or cutting board and the rim of the pan firmly and invert timpano. Remove pan and allow timpano to cool for 30 minutes. Using a long, sharp knife, cut a circle about 3 inches in diameter in the center of the timpano, making sure to cut all the way through to the bottom. Then slice timpano as you would a pie into individual portions, leaving the center circle as a support for the remaining pieces. The cut pieces should hold together, revealing built-up layers of great stuff.
Tip
- You may assemble the timpano in the pan it will be baked in and freeze it. It will take three days to fully defrost in the refrigerator before it can be baked as directed.
Cooking Notes
Terry Neal
I made Timpano and it turned out great. I did have left over ziti...3 lbs. is too much. And I didn't thin the sauce as I was afraid it would be soggy. Regardless, it was spectacular and an occasion was made turning it out. We watched the Big Night clip beforehand. I'll be glad to send a picture.
25 This is helpful
Christina
Ive made this twice-- a lot of people have noted that the dough is tough to work with, which can be true. Great tip: cover the dough with parchment paper and use a wine bottle as your rolling pin. Mike sure the wine is completely chilled!!! Your hands will warm up the bottle as you go. If you are worried have two or three bottles on hand to use. This will save you a lot of frustration.
22 This is helpful
Sbuster
Made twice now, so good! My 6 qt pan only fit 3 layers (recipe allows for 4), 2 lbs ziti would've sufficed. Double meatballs and sauce--single is skimpy and leftovers freeze great. Did not knead dough 10 min, just a few to combine and it's fine. Dough does take a while to roll out--if too springy just let it sit for 10 min (covered w/ damp cloths) and come back to it. Advise covering the overhanging dough w/damp cloths while assembling--dough edges tend to dry out. Totally worth the effort!
18 This is helpful
Maureen
My Husband, Son, & Daughter-in-law , and I made this large family Christmas Dinner. We had fun assembling the Timpano. And a much better time eating it! It is a crowd pleaser - Well worth the effort! I recommend letting it cool longer than 30 minutes BEFORE slicing or your 'layers' will slide. It was much better after 1 hour.
17 This is helpful
Amy
I’ve wanted to make this for years, and finally took the plunge for Christmas Eve dinner. It was a fun project, and everyone enjoyed the reveal and eating the finished product. Unless you’ve got helpers, I strongly recommend making the sauce and meatballs, and cutting up the salami and cheese, a day or two ahead of time. A lot of elbow grease is needed to roll the dough to the correct size. It’s worth all the effort, but be aware it takes a long time to get everything ready for final assembly.
9 This is helpful
Alicia
It's a crowd-pleaser! Could easily have fed at least 20 ppl, maybe even 30. The dough was super stiff and took almost an hour of kneading for gluten to properly develop--my husband's pretty stiff in the hands, shoulders and arms today. But, it's sturdy and held up great with all the filling. We were stressing about rolling out to the right diameter (36 in by our original calculations), but 30 in in our 6 qt bowl was totally fine--we just didn't fill to the rim with filling.
7 This is helpful
Lisa
I made the Big Night timpano years ago. It was a lot of work, but also a lot of fun, and it was a BIG HIT when I served it...on New Year's Eve.
3 This is helpful
Jennifer
Fun to make and definitely an impressive reveal. Best made for a big crowd. We halved the recipe and still made a huge amount. It does not reheat that well.
2 This is helpful
Kerry
Plan for an hour longer prep than the recipe calls for because the dough is so hard to work with. It took four of us taking turns rolling nearly an hour to get it to the right size and thickness. That said, well worth it! More delicious than I expected and definitely a dramatic reveal.
2 This is helpful
Chef Butterfly
Mama Mia! This is an amazing recipe and journey! Similar to other notes: we had leftover ziti (3 lbs was too much), I did not thin the sauce for fear of making it runny, let it sit 1 hour before slicing. My family made it for Christmas dinner and it was so much fun. The sauce and meatball recipe are very good and I would make again for other recipes.
2 This is helpful
Houston
Make more dough. Had a brilliant experience making this. Outcome was super. We made Tucci ragu, but by-passed the meatballs, and subbed Italian sweet sausage (cooked and chunked before assembly).
In addition to reducing quantity of ziti by 1/3, only big change we'd suggest is to over-make the dough, and simply discard the excess. We had too little dough for our big pot -- despite rolling out very thin -- so ended up making an additional/separate bottom piece and crimping it in. Worked well.
2 This is helpful
Private Notes are notes that only you can see. .
For example: “Made for Alex's birthday. Next time double the recipe.”
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