Taking inspiration from the Movie, The Big Night, Drexel’s Culinary Arts program held its 7th annual Big Night Timpano Competition last week. Each year Chef “Chuck” Ziccardi inspires the students in his Italian I class first with the movie, then with his love of all things Italian, and then the competition. Eighteen students worked in teams of two, conceiving, testing and eventually presenting their signature Timpano for judging. The teams had three and a half hours to prepare everything from scratch. Every entry displayed imagination, skill and good taste.
This year’s winners are:
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First Place: Candace Taranto and Andrew Haught (1st Prize: $50 gift certificate to Restaurant Le Virtù).|
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Second place: Amanda Altschuler and Samantha Fitch (2nd Prize: dinner for two at the Academic Bistro)|
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Third place: Sean Carney and Kevin Ernhoffer (3rd Prize: each a bottle of Frantoio Extra Virgin Olive Oil).Director and star of, The Big Night, Stanley Tucci thought of the film as exploring “the relationship between art (culinary) and commerce.” Two immigrant brothers, Primo and Secondo, operate a failing restaurant and can not reconcile themselves between upholding the purity of true Cucina Italiana and the requirements of an American clientele that want veal parm’ with a side of spaghetti. The Timpano is the centerpiece of their big night, a party thrown to save the restaurant from ruin. The dish ran away with the movie.
So, just what is a Timpano? The pasta extravaganza is a drum shaped, as the name implies, and is a centerpiece creation meant to be a triumph of a chef’s creative talents.
There are many versions classic and contemporary. Although it is an all-in-one dish made in a round casserole, it is anything but humble. This pillbox of pasta perfection can be a fantasia of formaggio, gently held together by mozzarella, provolone and Parmigiano, generously distributed between the layers of braised meat and sauce, sausages and salami, mini meat balls, pasta and hard cook eggs all encased in a delicate membrane of dough. Or it can be a carousel of grilled vegetables; portobello mushrooms, sweet bell peppers, zucchini, fresh herbs and cheese, encased in a wicker-work of grilled eggplant. There can be seafood or poultry or game, savory and sweet, but always there is pasta — tubetti, ziti, gemelli, mostaccioli, even tortellini.
The timpano, truth be told, is a poetically aggrandized version of the French Timbale. The Italians have an analogous dish — the timballo, and the Timpano is merely the circus-sized version. A tradition of Sicilian master chefs, known as Monzu’ (a corruption of the French Monsieur), the Timpano was a spare-no-expense, much anticipated delight at the finest of dinner tables. Here’s how Guiseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa described it in his famous novel, The Leopard, that chronicled the waning days of the Sicilian aristocracy:
The burnished gold of the crust and the fragrance of sugar and cinnamon that exuded, were only a prelude to the sensation of delight released from the interior when the knife slit the crust; first came a steaming burst of aromas, then chicken livers, hard-boiled eggs, slices of ham, chicken and truffles in masses of hot, glistening macaroni, to which the meat juice gave an exquisite velvety brown hue.
| First Place Timpano Recipe |
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By Andrew Haught & Candace Taranto Pesto 2 cups fresh basil leaves, rinsed thoroughly Combine basil, pine nuts, garlic, and salt in food processor. Slowly drizzle in extra virgin olive oil and allow to slowly incorporate with the pulsed mixture. Add extra virgin olive oil until the mixture is in paste form, without excess oily texture. Remove from food processor and stir in grated cheeses, pepper, and salt. Fresh Pasta (for casing) 3 cups all-purpose flour Make a pile of flour and make a create a well inside the pile. Crack the eggs and egg yolks into the well and sprinkle with salt. Break the eggs with your finger and slowly bring in more and more flour into the egg mixture. Once a uniform, consistent ball of dough is formed let sit at room temp for 1 hour, then use as needed. Alfredo Sauce (White) 1 cup heavy cream Pour 2/3 cup heavy cream and the butter in a skillet and heat just until the mixture has thickened (less than a minute). Add sautéed and lightly browned pancetta and lemon juice/zest to sauce. Once pasta is cooked, toss immediately with sauce in skillet until everything is blended. Add the rest of the cream, toss together, and stir in the cheese and seasonings including a dash of nutmeg. Tomato Sauce (Red) 3 cloves garlic, cracked Add garlic and extra virgin olive oil to sauté pan at room temp, and sauté on medium-low heat until the slightest hint of color appears on garlic. Remove garlic from oil and stir in anchovies until they melt in sauce. Add pancetta and onions and sauté until fragrant and slightly browned. Add kalamata olives, salt, and pepper. Add tomatoes and simmer for about 15-20 min, stirring occasionally, or until oil floats free from tomatoes. Stir in cheese and herbs, and test for seasoning. Assembly Cook the pasta in plenty of well salted boiling water. Drain. Meanwhile, flatten out the dough on a lightly floured surface. Dust the top with flour and roll it out, dusting with flour and flipping the dough over from time to time, until it about 1/16 inch thick and has the desired diameter (which should well exceed the interior diameter of the pan). Generously grease the round timpano baking pan (a springform will do) with butter or oil. Fold the dough in half and then in half again to form a triangle, and place it in the pan. Open the dough and arrange it in the pan, gently pressing it against the bottom and the sides, draping the extra dough over the sides. Set aside. Preheat the oven to 350ºF. The concept is to have the Italian flag represented in the layers of the interior once the timpano is cut. Toss one third of the pasta with the pesto sauce; one-third with the alfredo sauce and the final third with the red sauce. Pile the pasta with the red sauce into the dough-lined timpano mold and level it out. Carefully add the pasta with the Alfredo sauce and make that level. Even more carefully add the pasta with pesto sauce to the timpano. Fold over the overhanging dough and seal it with egg wash or water, patching if necessary with dough scraps to ensure a good seal. Bake until lightly browned, about 1 hour. Then cover with aluminum foil and continue baking until the timpano is cooked through and the dough is golden brown (the internal temp. will be 120 degrees F), about 20 minutes more. Remove from the oven and allow to rest for 30 minutes. The baked timpano should not adhere to the pan. If any part is still attached, carefully detach with a knife. Grasp the pan firmly and invert the timpano onto a serving platter. Remove the pan and allow the timpano to rest while you garnish accordingly. Cut portions into wedges with a serrated knife as you would a large ceremonial cake. |
Edward Bottone, a food and lifestyle journalist, is Chef/Instructor in the Culinary Arts program at Drexel University and has been a radio talk show host and TV presenter, and is also a food stylist and photographer.
Article photographs taken by author, "Events" photograph from Marty M.Ito, via Flickr (Creative Commons), "Philly" photograph from camardella, via Flickr (Creative Commons).
