Timpano

Last weekend I was planning on cooking a lasagna but was inspired to try turning it into a timpano instead.  If you don't know already, timpano is an italian baked pasta dish.  It usually consists of many elements such as meatballs, spaghetti, various sauces, hard boiled eggs, and whatever else you can imagine all wrapped in dough which turns into a sort of crust in the oven.  The word actually comes from the italian for eardrum, because the shape of the finished dish is supposed to resemble a drum.  Anyway, this is by no means a traditional timpano; it's sort of a mix between a timpano and a lasagna (I used store bought noodles).  The other thing I should mention is this didn't turn out quite how I had hoped.  It tasted exactly how I hoped but it had some structural errors.  I think I used too much sauce and other liquid-y ingredients so when I tried to invert the dish the timpano fell apart, and I ended up scooping it onto the plate.  If you make it correctly, you should be able to cut the pasta as if you would cut a cake, and be able to see all the different layers.  Anyway, I took a lot of pictures so lets get to them.  

Finely dice some celery and onion for the meat sauce.  

Sautee the aromatics with some butter.  

Add any spices you want here: oregano, red pepper flakes, and cayenne would do nicely.  

Then add the ground beef and cook until brown.  

Next add a can of tomatoes and simmer until needed (at least 2 hours).  

For this timpano I used three sauces.  The second was a green olive/almond pesto which I will add a full post for shortly.  Here's the basic gist.  

Toast any types of nuts you want.  

Zest an orange.  

Process the olives, 1 bunch parsley, zest, nuts, and a little bit of butter (I know that sounds weird, just trust me).  Slowly drizzle in the olive oil.  

Lastly was the bechamel.  Did you know that bechamel sauce was named after the steward to King Louis XIV?  Anyway, start by melting some butter.  

Then add flour to make a roux.  

"Toast" the flour until the raw taste cooks off, then slowly pour in milk, whisking constantly.  I think using cold milk is fine but have heard others claim that you must use warm liquid to avoid lumps.  

The milk will only thicken after it comes to a simmer, so be patient.  Then add your cheeses.  

I only used some parmesan, but you could use any kind you wanted.  

Get a bowl of ice water ready.  

Boil the lasagna sheets- about 10 at a time.  I'd say you'll need about 30 sheets altogether.  

Only boil until flexible.  They still need to be very raw inside.  When cooked, transfer to the ice water to stop the cooking process.  

I lined the noodles up against the sides of a dutch oven.  The first layer is the bechamel.  

Then add a few slices of salami.  

Then add some more pasta sheets, more bechamel.  Then...

Add the pesto layer.  

Top with more grated parm.  

I think this was another layer of bechamel with cheese and salami.  

Finally do two or three layers of meat sauce (with pasta sheets in between obviously).  

For the last layer I added some ricotta cheese because I had it.  

Then tie all the ends together and "glue" them with some extra bechamel.  

The final step is to let it rest for a good 20-30 minutes.  Don't worry, it'll stay plenty hot.  Like I said, when I tried to invert it, I could tell it wasn't going to hold it's shape, so I had to turn it back right side up and scoop it out of the pot.  It tasted delicious!  I think next time I should just leave it in the form of a lasagna.  

By the way, I was inspired to make timpano by seeing this post in a blog I follow.  You can see what it should have turned out like.  

Also, I first heard about timpano from the film Big Night.  I've linked a few of the scenes from the movie below.  

Enjoy