Timballo di Pasta
An Original Recipe by Lorraine Elliott
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 2 hours
Serves: 6-8
- Olive oil for frying and basting
- 2 medium onions, peeled and diced
- 2 carrots, diced
- 2 sticky celery, diced
- 500g/1.1lbs pork and veal mince
- 3 cups/750ml/25.4flozs. beef stock
- 1/2 cup/125ml/4flozs. red wine
- 4 tablespoons tomato paste
- 400g/14ozs diced or crushed tinned tomatoes
- 3 dried chillies (optional)
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 1 cup peas
- 3x400g/3x14oz eggplants
- Salt and pepper
- 400g/14ozs anelli or anelletti pasta
- 2 cups/240g/8ozs. provolone or caciocavallo cheese (or mozzarella)
- 1.5 cups/135g/4.7ozs. parmesan cheese, grated
Step 1 - Sauté the onions, carrots and celery in a large cast iron pot. Add the mince and brown and break up with a wooden spoon. Then add the beef stock, red wine, tomato paste, tinned tomatoes and chillies and place the lid on and bring to a simmer and simmer for 1 hour. Season with salt and sugar and add the peas and cook for another 5 minutes. You still want sauce so don't let it dry out (leaving the lid on should prevent this).
Step 2 - While it is cooking roast the eggplant. Preheat oven to 180C/350F cut the top off the eggplants and cut them into 1cm/0.4inch slices. Place eggplant slices on parchment lined trays and brush generously with oil on both sides. Roast for 20 minutes and then turn over and roast for another 5-8 minutes. Set aside to cool.
Step 3 - Cook the pasta in plenty of salted, boiling water for 2 minutes under what the packet says (around 6-7 minutes). Drain and add to the pot with the sauce along with the two cheeses. Season with salt and pepper.
Step 4 - Preheat oven to 200C/400F. Spray a 10 cup bundt tin with oil and lay out the eggplant slices overlapping them. Spoon in the pasta and sauce and press down firmly. Place on a baking tray and bake for 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 30-60 minutes. Then place a plate on the base and upturn and gently remove the tin to reveal the pasta cake!