Should you love lasagna however need one thing that stands out a little bit extra, then that is the dish for you. Timballo di Anelletti is a spherical, drum-shaped baked pasta made with an uncommon pasta form: Anelli Siciliani (they seem like SpaghettiOs).
There are a couple of totally different variations of this timballo in Sicily, however right here we’ve chosen to share a recipe the place it’s lined with fried eggplant slices and filled with cheese, eggs, and Sicilian ragù.
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TIMBALLO DI ANELLETTI RECIPE
For this recipe, you’ll need:
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Additional-virgin olive oil
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½ giant carrot, diced
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½ white onion, diced
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1 celery rib, diced
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2 to three bay leaves
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1 pound (450 g) floor beef and/or pork
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A pinch of floor nutmeg
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A pinch of floor cloves
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Contemporary black pepper
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Salt
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½ cup (120 ml) white wine
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1 tablespoon (15 g) tomato paste
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28 ounces (800 g) tomato puree
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1 cup (150 g) frozen peas
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Oil for frying (ideally extra-virgin olive oil)
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3 giant eggplants
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12 ounces (340 g) Anelli Siciliani pasta
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Dry bread crumbs, to style
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2 onerous boiled eggs, chopped
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4.5 ounces (125 g) mozzarella cheese, chopped
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Grated Sicilian caciocavallo or pecorino Romano cheese, to style
Start by cooking the ragù: fill the underside of a big, heavy pot with a skinny layer of olive oil. Over medium warmth, add the diced carrot, onion and celery, and sauté for two to three minutes or till the onion is barely tender and clear. Stir within the bay leaves and add the bottom meat.
Break up the meat right into a crumble and sauté till browned. Season the meat with the bottom nutmeg, floor cloves, and an enormous pinch of pepper and salt. Stir within the tomato paste, adopted by the tomato puree.
Convey the sauce to a delicate simmer over medium/low warmth and calmly salt it. Simmer, partially coated, for half-hour. Add the frozen peas and proceed to simmer for 10 to fifteen minutes, or till the ragù thickens barely. Salt the sauce to style because it nears completion. When the ragù is completed, flip off the warmth and set it apart for later.
Whereas the ragù cooks, you’ll be able to fry the eggplants. Fill a deep pan with about 3 inches (7.5 cm) of frying oil and warmth over medium/excessive warmth. Dice one of many eggplants into small chunks. Slice the opposite 2 eggplants into lengthwise slices, about ⅓ inch (85 mm) thick.
When the oil is scorching, fastidiously drop within the eggplant chunks (you’ll be able to work in batches if utilizing a smaller pan) and fry till the start to show golden. Take away with a slotted spoon to a paper towel to empty and calmly salt the eggplant chunks.
Repeat the above steps to fry the eggplant slices, working in batches to stop overcrowding the pan.
Convey a big pot of water to boil and salt it generously. Add the anelli pasta and boil it for half of the beneficial “al dente” cook dinner time (i.e. if the field recommends 12 minutes, cook dinner it for six). Drain the cooked pasta and switch it into a big mixing bowl. Ladle a lot of the ragù (reserve a couple of ladlefuls for later) into the pasta and stir all collectively.
The simplest technique to cook dinner this timballo is in a spherical springform mould (about 9 inches in diameter and a couple of.5 inches tall, or 23 x 6.5 cm). This lets you take away the mould with out having to flip the timballo. Nevertheless, it’s essential that you’ve a high-quality springform that gained’t leak, in any other case you’ll have a messy, smoky oven. Should you aren’t assured within the springform seal, you should use a equally sized standard tin or baking dish and flip the completed timballo (extra on that later).
Preheat the oven to 400° F (205° C).
Brush the underside of your springform mould with olive oil and dirt it with dry bread crumbs. Drape fried eggplant slices alongside the perimeters of the dish, letting them overlap barely and overhang excessive edges of the dish. Place extra slices alongside the underside of the pan. The end result needs to be that the underside and sides of the dish are utterly coated in a layer of eggplant slices.
Place half of the sauced pasta into the dish and unfold the layer of pasta flat. On high of the pasta, evenly unfold the chopped onerous boiled eggs and the cubed eggplants. Unfold the remaining ragù over the eggplants. End the stuffing with the chopped mozzarella and a beneficiant grating of cheese.
Fill the dish with the remaining sauced pasta. Don’t be afraid to make use of your palms to press all of it in flat—ideally the pasta ought to attain proper as much as the rim of the dish. Cowl the pasta with the remaining eggplants slices—you’ll be able to fold within the overhanging slices that line the perimeters to make a whole seal.
High the assembled timballo with a dusting of bread crumbs, a grating of cheese, and a drizzle of olive oil. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes or till the highest is golden brown. Let the timballo cool for quarter-hour.
Rigorously and gently run a skinny knife between the perimeters of the timballo and the baking dish to ensure the eggplants aren’t caught. If utilizing a springform, merely open and take away the mould. If utilizing a traditional baking dish, place a slicing board on high of the timballo, fastidiously flip it, then carry the dish off.
Serve instantly. Buon appetito!
