Mar 4, 2021

Maltese Timpana

Whenever I describe this dish to anyone who's not Maltese, I get the weirdest looks. It's got quite a mix of things going on, so the ingredient list may be a bit off putting to some, but I promise, if you stick with it, you won't regret it. It oddly just works.

It's an extremely nostalgic dish for me - as are most Maltese dishes. This one in particular stirs memories of picnics with the whole extended family, because this is the perfect picnic dish! (So perfect that I'm posting this just in time for picnic season). It travels well, and can be eaten both hot and cold, so no issue there.

This will make enough timpana for a 27x40cm dish, which will easily feed 10 people.

Ingredients

900gr shortcrust pastry sheet

700gr rigatoni pasta

Olive oil

1 white onion

5 cloves garlic

250gr minced beef

250gr minced pork

250gr chicken liver

2 cans tinned chopped tomatoes (400gr x 2)

2 tbsp tomato paste

1/4 pint water

3 eggs

75gr parmesan, grated

Salt and pepper, to taste

1 egg (egg wash)

Method

1. Preheat your oven to 180 degrees celsius.

2. Bring a large pot of boiling water to a boil, and cook the rigatoni according to package instructions. Rinse with cold water (to stop them from cooking further) and allow to drain and cool.

3. Hard boil the three eggs and set aside. (Around 12-15 minutes).

4. Chop the onion, garlic, and chicken liver. Drizzle some olive oil in a medium pot and saute the onion until just about cooked through. Add the garlic and cook for a further 2 minutes. Add the minced pork, minced beef, and chicken liver, and saute until more or less cooked through.

5. Add the chopped tomatoes, tomato paste, water, salt, and pepper. Cover and simmer for around 10-15 minutes, until slightly reduced.

6. Chop the hard boiled eggs and mix into the sauce. Add the cooked rigatoni into the sauce along with the cheese and mix until well combined and the sauce, pasta, eggs, and cheese are more or less evenly distributed.

7. Grease your dish with butter and set aside. Roll out your shortcrust pastry around 3-4mm thick. Cover the bottom of the dish, pressing the dough into the sides. Trim the excess, leaving around a cm extra around the top - this will help you seal the pie.

8. Pour the pasta mixture into the dish, spreading it out to keep things nice and level. Cover the top using the remaining dough, pinching the sides down to create somewhat of a rope look. Feel free to decorate the corners with an excess dough. Poke some holes into the top using a fork, allowing for any steam to escape. Brush the top with an egg wash and sprinkle with some sea salt.