Serves 8
Notes
Timballo, an Italian pasta dish baked in a mold, usually includes additional ingredients such as boiled eggs, meats, vegetables, and cheese to bind it all. Once baked, it is inverted and presented like a cake. Just about every region of Italy has some form of the timballo, including bomba, pasticcio, and, in Naples, sartù. It is usually served during the holidays, but I think making it simpler, with a sausage ragù, gives you a festive presentation for an everyday meal that everyone will love. I am sure most of you recall the iconic timballo served in the movie Big Night. Well, here is a version of it.
Ingredients
- for the sausage ragù
- 1 small onion, coarsely chopped
- 1 small carrot, coarsely chopped
- 1 stalk celery, coarsely chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed and peeled
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 pound sweet Italian sausage, removed from casings
- Kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon peperoncino flakes
- 1/2 cup dry white wine
- One 28-ounce can whole San Marzano tomatoes, crushed by hand
- 2 fresh bay leaves
- 1 cup frozen peas
- for assembly
- Kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus more for the baking pan
- 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons fine dried bread crumbs
- 1 pound ditalini
- 1 1/4 cups freshly grated Grana Padano
- 1 cup cubed prosciutto cotto or other ham
- 1 cup cubed provola
Directions
For the ragù: Combine the onion, carrot, celery, and garlic in a food processor, and pulse to make a fine paste or pestata. Heat the olive oil in a medium Dutch oven over medium heat. When the oil is hot, add the pestata, and cook, stirring often, until the it is dried out and sticks to the bottom of the pot, 5 to 6 minutes. Crumble in the sausage, and cook, breaking it up with a wooden spoon, until it’s finely crumbled and lightly browned, about 4 minutes. Season with 1 teaspoon salt and the peperoncino.
Add the white wine, and adjust the heat to simmer and reduce the liquid by half, about 2 minutes. Add the tomatoes, bay leaves, and 2 cups water. Cook until it’s very thick and flavorful, about 15 to 20 minutes; add the peas in the last 2 to 3 minutes of cooking time. You should have about 5 cups sauce. (If you have less, you can add a little bit of water; if much more, reserve the extra for another use.) Remove the bay leaves and garlic and discard them.
To assemble: Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Generously butter a 9-inch springform pan. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of the bread crumbs in the pan, and shake to coat the bottom and sides thoroughly in the crumb mixture. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Add the ditalini to the boiling water, and cook only until the pasta is still very al dente, 3 to 4 minutes shy of the package directions.
Drain it in a colander, and cool it under cold running water. Shake the colander to dry everything off as much as possible.
Add the pasta to the sausage ragù with 1 cup of the grated Grana Padano, and stir. Stir in the ham and provola, distributing them evenly.
Transfer the mixture to the prepared pan, and press the mixture down to compact it slightly. (If you have a cup or so of dressed pasta left over, that’s okay—it’s the cook’s treat!) Sprinkle the top with the remaining 1/4 cup each bread crumbs and Grana Padano, and dot the top with the butter. Bake on a rimmed baking sheet, to catch any drips, until the top is very browned and crusty, 40 to 45 minutes. Cool on a rack for 15 to 20 minutes (it will still be quite warm). Run a thin paring knife around the edges of the pan to loosen the timballo, unmold it, and serve.
