TIMBALLO DI MELANZANE

A couple of New Year's Eves ago, I made a timballo   (see my entry on December 28, 2012) with monkfish. That recipe was adapted from Venezia Food and Dreams by Tessa Kiros and it was only natural that, coming from Venice, fish should be a predominant ingredient. 

This recipes comes from Katie Caldesi's extraordinary Italian "cookery" book called Cook Italy and is reminiscent of the south, primarily Sicily,  Earlier this summer, I decided to make a timballo (Italian for timpani; or in the shape of a drum, but in this case, something encasing pasta, be it pasta sheets, a  vegetable or even rice) made with eggplant and here is what I got! 

The process is rather easy if you know what you're doing, but painstaking nevertheless. Basically what you're doing is preparing eggplant (either pan frying or roasting) to make the thin slices malleable enough to bend to your will in order to line a mold or cake pan (in my case I used a shallow circular ceramic casserole dish) to prepare the outer shell.

This dish serves 8 as a first course or 4 as a main course. 

For the shell:

2 medium sized eggplants sliced in long slices

EVOO

Flour (N.B.)

Dredge the slices of eggplant and pan fry them on both sides salting for seasoning as you go. Saute both side but do not burn, you want them to soften but not cook completely through. Once you have sauteed the eggplant slices, line the bottom of the casserole dish making sure to overlap the slices and ensuring that the slices extend well over the edge (you will want the overlapping slices to close over the filling, thus making a "drum"). I put circular slices at the bottom of the casserole dish over the inside edges of the longer slices to make a sealed top. 

N.B. Roasting the eggplant on baking sheets lined with parchment paper is infinitely more easy (and you don't need to use the flour) but you must watch the oven constantly and no more that 20 minutes tops at 425º. Either way, you will end up using copious amounts of olive oil.

Preheat the oven to 350º and place a rack in the middle of the oven.

For the pasta filling

1-1 1/2 pounds pasta (I prefer using 3 types: farfalle, rigatoni, penne

Tomato sauce

Grated Cheese (your choice but I mix with Parmesan, Provolone, Romano)
and any or all of the following:

Breadcrumbs

Mozzarella

Sausage

Pine Nuts
Peas

2-3 tbs. heavy cream

Cook the pasta in a great big covered pot filled with lots of water. Salt generously when the water comes to a boil. Add the past and cover the pot (it helps to bring the water back to the boil faster). Remove cover once the water is boiling and stir frequently. Cook until al dente.

Dress the pasta with tomato sauce and add the ingredients above (you can omit some or add something of your own choice - the mixture can vary). Once the pasta mixture is dressed to your liking, add it to the mold, drizzle the cream around the edges of the mold and fold over the eggplant hanging over the sides of the casserole. Add any leftover eggplant in the center to completely encase the mold. Place the dish on a roasting sheet and place in the oven. Bake for 25 minutes.

Remove from oven and allow to test for 20 minutes before cutting or let it rest for several hours and serve it lukewarm. This dish, like lasagna needs time to rest so the slices are clean. It also refrigerates well and is terrific reheated the next day.

Buon appetito!