Well, here it is... the making of Timpano! It has only taken me 6 months to finally post the picture diary. I guess that is fitting since it took me just short of a year to finally make the dish after taking the cooking class! Better late, than never, right?!...
Step 1- Rolling out the dough
This is definitely the biggest pizza I have ever rolled out. This was four recipes (each yielding a pound) of dough. It was a little too much, but I didn't want to run short, so I erred on the side of caution. You will need a wide surface for this... Your standard kitchen counter isn't going to do. I decided to use the dining table, and it was perfect.
Step 2 - Lining the pot
I highly recommend a helper for this part... I could have done it alone, but I probably would have been cursing the dough by the end...
We folded the dough into quarters to make it easier to lift into the pot. The pot is greased with butter. Make sure you stop a few inches from the top so that the dough will stay put while you are filling the pot with all your layers.
again, easier with 2 pairs of hands
You will want the dough to hang over enough that you will be able to cover the top of the dish, but also, you don't want it to slide down on you while you are trying to fill it!
It took a bit of patience to get all the air pockets out of the dough and stretch the dough into the bottom of the pot.
All ready for the first layer!
Step 3 - The Filling!
Layer #1 - Penne with Rustico (smooth) Sauce
Layer #2 - Spinach
Layer #3 - Spinach Pasta Sheet
Layer #4 - Hard boiled eggs (halved)
Layer #5 - Mozzarella cheese (8 ounces, shredded)
Layer #6 - Meatballs (halved and cut side down)
Layer #7 - Fresco (chunky) Sauce
Layer #8 - Sausages (halved and cut side down)
Layer # 9 - roasted red peppers
Layer #10 - semolina pasta sheet
See, food really is the way to a mans heart! Look at the love on his face!
Layer #11 - Penne, Mushroom sauce, and 8 ounces mozzarella cheese mixed together
Here you can really see that we had too much dough. We just cut off and discarded the excess.
Step 4 - Closing the top!
We still had too much, so we snipped off some more.
Your dough should cover the entire top.
yeah, we made quite a mess! And, you can see had quite a pile of dough left.
We buttered the top section before we put it in the oven. We wanted to be sure we wouldn't have any trouble getting it out of the pot!
Step 5 - Baking
Make sure you have your oven rack in the lowest position before you attempt to put the pot in the oven, because it is quite heavy!
Bake at 375 for 1 hour and 45 minutes.
When it is done in the oven, it will need to cool completely and then be refrigerated for 24 hours before slicing and serving! If you want to see the finished product click here.
