Whats more American than burgers and fries? Timpano!

So technically its made of Italian dishes, but whats more American than taking every single Italian dish you can think of and stuffing it in a pie crust to make one delicious monstrosity?  

As a Proud American I decided to take on the timpano!  But rather than take this feat on my own I enlisted some very trusted and hungry friends.

Sauce

2 cans tomato sauce

1 can of stewed tomatoes

1 tbs tomato paste

2 bunches of fresh basil chopped

5 cloves of garlic diced

1/2 medium yellow onion chopped

2 pinches of red chilies

Olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

Heat medium pot with olive oil.  Sautee onion and half the garlic on medium until clear, about 3 mins.  Add the rest of the ingredients bring to a simmer then cover till ready to use.

 

Meatballs

1 lb ground meat

½ medium yellow onion diced

5 cloves of garlic diced

¼ cup of bread crumbs

¼ cup of parmesan

1 large egg

Salt and pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients in a large bowl.  The meat should be a moist consistency, not too wet or the meatballs will fall apart.  Be sure not to handle the meat too much or it becomes mushy.  Once everything is nicely mixed,  roll the meatballs into about quarter size balls.  Heat a medium frying pan with some olive oil and fry till brown on all sides.  Set aside till ready to use.

Sausage

2 Italian sausages

2 cloves of garlic

½ white onion

Heat medium pan with a dash of olive oil.  Sautee onion and garlic till clear and aromatic.  Add sausages and cook through.  Set aside till ready to use.

Dough (taken from Mario Batali)

2 1/2 cups flour

6 ounces lard

4 egg yolks

1/2 teaspoon salt

A little ice water

Make a well in the flour on a wooden work surface. Cut the lard into 1/4-inch pieces and place in the center of the well with the yolks, salt and a teaspoon of ice water. Mix well with the tips of your fingers to form a lumpy mass. Bring together as a dough and knead for 4 to 5 minutes. Wrap in plastic and set aside.

Other Delicious ingredients

4 oz of thinly sliced Genoa salami

8 oz of fresh mozzarella, sliced about ¼ inch thick

1 pack of fresh fusilli

2 medium eggplants grilled

1 1/2 cups parmesan

1 cup ricotta

1 bunch fresh basil

Puttin it Together

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

Once you’ve made all the stuffing, roll out the dough to about ¼ inch thick.  We actually had to make 2 doughs one for the top and one for the bottom.  Let’s just say our timpano was hugano.  Spray your pot/ bowl with some oil so the dough won’t stick.  Make sure that the dough fits nicely into the pot/ bowl cause you’re about to fill it up!

We tossed the fusilli pasta with sauce and layered the bottom with it.  Then… layered grilled eggplant, sprinkled ½ cup of parmesan, mozzarella, salami, more fusilli with sauce, ½ cup parmesan, sausage mix, grilled eggplant, the rest of the parmesan, meatballs, basil, ricotta and more sauce.

Then flip the outer edges of the dough or in our case, layer the top piece of dough on and combine with the bottom piece.  Make sure it is sealed!

Cover with foil and pop in oven for about 30 mins till golden brown.  Take out and let cool for at least 10 mins.

To flip over it took two of us.

Dig in!

 This fed 8 very hungry slightly intoxicated people.  There were no left overs…

Thank you Julie Bullock for the awesome pics!

no animals were left hungry in the making of this timpano

*this post is dedicated to @CBCebulski, who inspired it 😉