TIMBALLO

A bit of history.

In the Middle Ages, two similar recipes were developed in England and Italy at the same time, the recipe for pork pie in Great Britain, which consisted of a meat filling and a water crust pastry, while in Italy we invented timballo which was made in a similar form and with a similar filling, but instead of pastry it was topped with pasta or rice, which were the most common ingredients at the time.

The term timballo is a word of Arabic origin that originally referred to a percussion instrument similar to a drum. Later, the definition was extended to the hemispherical copper mould in which the puddings solidified and, over time, to all preparations cooked in a cylindrical mould, the shape of which they take on during cooking.

The term timballo therefore refers to various regional specialities based on pasta, rice, meat and vegetables, seasoned with very tasty sauces, often wrapped in pastry or coated in vegetables and cooked in the oven. The ingredients used are therefore varied and range from poor products such as offal to fine cuts of meat, from wild herbs to cultivated vegetables.

Each type of timballo has its own history based on the geographical and social context, but in general this recipe has the common feature that it originated as an anti-waste dish.

In peasant communities, for example, timballo was a flan that enhanced the fruits provided by the earth: chicory, nettle and other herbs, which were mixed and flavoured with chicken eggs and other types of poultry.

This historic dish of the Lazio culinary tradition was made in a small town near Rome, Anangni, the birthplace of Benedetto Caetani, who was elected Pope in 1294 under the name Boniface VIII.

The dish was part of the lavish feast that celebrated the election and has kept its name.

There are 3 versions of this preparation. The version that comes closest to the original recipe consists of thin fettuccine, meatball ragout, sweetbreads, offal and chicken combs, as well as sheep's cheese wrapped in slices of ham. A second, more modern version is prepared with the same type of fettuccine, but does not contain chicken and is flavoured with beef and pork ragout.

A third version, also from Lazio, is more commonly known as timballo alla ciociara and consists of layered lasagne with meat sauce, hard-boiled eggs and mozzarella.

This recipe, also known as pasticcio (mistake), is a historical dish that dates back to late mediaeval cuisine. Compared to the past, however, pasticcio has taken on a different form today and the preparation of this recipe has also changed. However, as in the past, timballo is still presented today as a very rich and flavourful dish.

How do you prepare it? Firstly, a 'container' or 'bowl" of puff pastry must be made, which is then enriched with pasta and meat sauces. However, other elements such as eggs or peas can also be integrated. For this reason, pasta timbale is suitable as a 'dinner saver' dish, as it can be filled with leftovers from the previous evening.

Finally, it is worth mentioning that in the past there was a sweet version of timbale pasta, which also has very ancient origins. The first references to this preparation date back to ancient Rome, where this dish was served with cream despite the savoury filling. Today, however, this version of sweet timballo pasta has been lost.