Made famous in the movie "Big Night", this Italian timpano is over-the-top good. Basically a meaty pasta bake wrapped and baked in a large pizza dough, it is labor intensive - and it's worth every minute. The presentation is beautiful and impressive, and the combination of textures and flavors is fantastic.

Big and hearty - the timpano pasta dome.

If you like this timpano pasta dome, try my stuffed rigatoni for another over the top recipe. This is a classic Italian recipe defines comfort food and pairs well with my light and fresh bruschetta and mozzarella with fresh basil and garlic.

The Timpano Pasta Dome

Made famous in the movie "Big Night", this Italian timpano is over-the-top good.

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Course: Dinner, Main Dish

Cuisine: Italian

Prep Time: 1 hour 30 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour 30 minutes

Total Time: 3 hours

Servings: servings

Calories: 1462kcal

Author: Ben Rayl

Ingredients

for the meatballs:

1 pound ground pork
1 pound ground beef
2 slices white bread - crusts removed
¼ cup bread crumbs
3 tablespoon parsley - fresh chopped
½ cup parmesan cheese - freshly grated
2 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground pepper
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 large egg - beaten
¾ cups warm water
½ cup flour
2 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon olive oil

for the filling:

2 pounds penne pasta - cooked about ½ the recommended time
8 cups italian pasta sauce - good quality or homemade
½ pound italian sausage - cooked and crumbled
2 cups mozzarella cheese - shredded
15 meatballs
1 cup pecorino cheese - grated
5 large eggs - beaten

for the dough:

4 cups all purpose flour
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoon olive oil
½ cup water

Instructions

for the meatballs:

In a large bowl, mix the ingredients (from the pork to the water) together gently with a fork until well combined.
Wet your hands, then form the mixture into 1 ½" meatballs - you should have around 15 - 20.
Put the flour on a plate, then roll each ball gently to coat.
Heat the oil and butter in a large skillet, then brown the meatballs, 8 - 10 at a time for about 6 to 8 minutes, until browned and cooked through. be careful to not overcrowd, allow room for them to roll around and brown on all sides
Remove the cooked meatballs to a plate with paper towels to drain.

for the filling:

Prepare all of your filling ingredients and have them ready, in separate bowls in your kitchen. Do this before you make the dough, so when the dough is ready you can immediately begin filling it.

for the dough:

Put the flour, eggs, salt and olive oil in a large bowl. Use a stand mixer if you have one, if not use a hand mixer with a dough hook attached. Add a little of the water and begin to mix, adding water a little bit at a time, until the dough comes together and forms a ball.
Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead for about 5 minutes - cover with a damp towel and let rest for about 5 - 10 minutes.
Roll the dough out into a large, very thin sheet - like a large pizza dough. Get it as thin as you can, rolling from the inside out.
Grease a large, deep oven safe bowl with butter, then gently lay your dough in it. Carefully press the dough into the bottom and the sides, and drape the excess over the sides. there should be enough excess to fold over and cover the filling

put it together:

Preheat the oven to 350 F (175 C)
Toss the drained pasta with 2 cups of the tomato sauce in a large bowl.
Place about 3 cups of this sauced pasta into the bottom of the dough lined bowl.
Spoon about ½ of the sausage on the pasta, sprinkle that with 1 cup of the mozzarella cheese and ½ of the meatballs, then the pecorino cheese. Pour some of the beaten eggs over this to help hold it together, then pour over about 2 cups of the remaining tomato sauce.
Add another layer of pasta, the rest of the sausage, the remaining mozzarella, meatballs and pecorino. Pour about 2 more cups of sauce over these, then add the final layer of pasta - you should be just about to the top of the bowl.
Spoon the remaining sauce over the top, and pour on the remaining egg mixture. Shake the bowl a bit to help everything settle.
Fold the dough over the top, and seal it well, trimming away any excess dough.
Cover tightly with aluminum foil, and bake in the oven for about 45 minutes, then remove the foil and bake for another 45 minutes.
Remove and let rest for about 15 minutes on the counter before turning it over onto a serving dish. Let it rest inverted in the dish for about 5 more minutes before carefully removing the dish.
Slice into wedges and serve.