Given that the weather has changed drastically from slippers to boots and it’s necessary to wear a sweatshirt or jacket in the morning, I decided to prepare a rich and tasty main course drawing from Maltese cuisine and… here’s the TIMPANA Maltese Macaroni Pie!
This recipe has many versions starting from the outer shell that contains the pasta, which can be puff pastry, shortcrust pastry, or even phyllo dough, but also the meat of the sauce, because in addition to beef, some preparations also include chicken livers. The same goes for the seasonings, for the aromatic herbs that flavor everything, and they range from mint, marjoram, basil, oregano, to parsley.
THE MALTESE TIMPANA is the festival dish, the Sunday dish, made from a nice pie of short pasta with a savory sauce and a crispy shell that wraps everything and flavors this main course well. Like almost all oven-baked pasta dishes, it is somewhat elaborate because the ragù requires time, but it is not difficult, especially if we avoid making homemade puff pastry, which has well-defined times and mandatory folds and resting times.
Maltese cuisine has undergone many influences, such as Italian, African, and British, but from what I’ve read, this dish seems to originate from the wonderful and sumptuous Sicilian pies and timbales.
Continuing with the baked pasta recipes, I also propose:
- Difficulty: Medium
- Cost: Moderate
- Rest time: 15 Minutes
- Preparation time: 20 Minutes
- Portions: 6/8
- Cooking methods: Oven
Ingredients
- 2 packages puff pastry
- 10.6 oz macaroni (or penne)
- 14.1 oz mixed ground meat (beef and pork)
- 8.8 oz peeled tomatoes
- 3 tbsps tomato paste
- 1 onion
- 2.8 oz bacon
- 3 eggs (I used ONLY one egg to brush the pastry before baking the Maltese timpana)
- 1 clove garlic
- 2 leaves bay leaves
- to taste salt
- to taste pepper
- to taste extra virgin olive oil
- to taste grated Parmesan cheese
Tools
#ADV
- High-sided Saucepans
- Non-stick Baking Pans
- Kitchen Scales
Steps
1) In a saucepan, I put 3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, and once it’s hot, I add the crushed garlic and the finely chopped onion and let it brown, stirring the sauté well. Then, I remove the garlic.
2) I also add the diced bacon and leave it on medium heat for a few minutes.
3) Now, I put the mixed ground meat in the pot and let the meat brown and flavor on medium-high heat for 5 minutes, adding the bay leaves, which will be removed at the end of the ragù cooking.
4) Then, I add the chopped tomatoes and the tomato paste.
5) I adjust the salt and pepper, cover with the lid, and let it cook for at least 30 minutes, letting the sauce of the Maltese timpana cook and reduce.
6) When the sauce ragù is almost ready, I set a saucepan on the heat to boil the pasta, which I drop at boiling, also salting the cooking water and proceeding until the macaroni (or penne) are al dente.
7) I drain the pasta and put it in a large salad bowl, then adding the reduced ragù, 2 slightly beaten eggs, mixing well to combine all the ingredients.
8) I adjust the seasoning and line the baking pan with the puff pastry covering the bottom and sides well and IMPORTANT…. before placing the puff pastry shell that will contain the macaroni, I preferred to grease the surface a little with EVO oil or butter!
9) Then, I pour the seasoned pasta into the pastry-lined pan, also adding some Parmigiano Reggiano, and close the timpana, the pie from Maltese island cuisine with the other pastry sheet, sealing the edges well to prevent pasta and sauce from escaping and removing the excess pastry, of course!
10) I beat the remaining raw egg and brush the entire surface of the TIMPANA pie from Maltese cuisine, and now I have nothing left to do but bake in a preheated oven at 356°F for about 40/45 minutes or depending on the characteristics of your oven.
11) Once cooked, I let it cool for 5 minutes, then remove it from the oven and subsequently unmold THE TIMPANA THE MALTESE MACARONI PIE, bringing it to the table and composing the individual plates.
Enjoy your meal!
Annalisa
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Annalisa says…
As I mentioned above, there are various variations… I did not include chicken livers because, between us, I consume and eat them now, only in the form of liver pâté on toasted crostini, but as always… use them if you like, adding a small amount and adjusting the taste!
SMALL UNIMPORTANT AND SUPERFLUOUS ADDITION but I would like to make it anyway… As a girl, I had the so-called PEN PALS, and among them was a girl from the Island of Malta, Josephine Pisani, who so kindly, in addition to corresponding with me, sent me a beautiful recipe book from her island! Thanks to Facebook, we have reconnected, and I thank her here for her kindness and friendship.
