Where it comes from
Timpana is the Maltese baked pasta pie, a festive dish showing the Sicilian-Italian influence (cf. timballo). The pastry case distinguishes it from a plain baked pasta.
On the plate
Cut a wedge of timpana and it holds its shape — a golden pastry shell around a dense slice of macaroni bound in beef ragù, egg, and cheese. Bite: the crust is crisp and buttery, the filling savory and rich, the egg-and-cheese binding the pasta into a sliceable whole, the ragù deep with tomato and bacon. Festive, substantial, and beloved — the Maltese Sunday-and-celebration centerpiece.
How it works
Boiling the macaroni just shy of al dente keeps it from going mushy during the long bake. Beaten egg and cheese set on heating, binding the loose pasta into a firm, sliceable mass. The pastry case seals in moisture and bakes into a crisp shell, turning a pasta bake into a true pie.
Variations
With chicken livers in the ragù. With peas and hard-boiled egg. Puff pastry instead of shortcrust. With aubergine. Ross il-forn (baked rice) variant without pastry. With a clove-spiced ragù.
On the Palate
Ingredients
Serves 8
How it's made
8 steps · Show ↓55 min active · 65 min waiting
How it's made
8 steps · Show ↓- 110 min
Brown 400 g minced beef with 1 chopped onion in olive oil.
- 227 min
Stir in 2 tbsp tomato paste and 2 chopped tomatoes; simmer 25 min into a thick ragù.
- 312 min
Boil 400 g macaroni until just under al dente; drain.
- 48 min
Mix the macaroni with the ragù, 2 beaten eggs, 100 g grated cheese, and 80 g chopped bacon; cool slightly.
- 56 min
Line a deep dish with rolled-out pastry, leaving overhang.
- 63 min
Fill with the macaroni mixture and level it.
- 75 min
Cover with a pastry lid, seal and trim the edges, and cut a steam vent.
- 860 min
Brush with egg and bake at 190°C for 45 min until deep golden; rest 15 min before slicing.
