Create your own fireworks in the kitchen with writer Eric Barton’s worth-the-wait Italian timpano

It started with this Google search: what is the most difficult dish to make? The first time my wife, Jill, and I attempted it was Thanksgiving a couple years back, sick of turkey and figuring we had the time to tackle a challenge. It took us a week to make our first timpano, each night checking off one of the ingredients.

The Italian dish — also called timballo, meaning drum, because it looks like one when it’s done — is a casserole of sorts with any kind of filling, wrapped up in pasta dough and baked long and slow.

That first time, we stuck true to the recipe made famous in the movie “Big Night” and recreated by YouTube’s Binging with Babish. Both marvelous and a bit strange, it’s a dish that otherwise shares a lot with a lasagna, albeit more layered like a Greek pastitsio. The second time, Jill and I were on a vegetarian kick and chose a combination of squash, onions and broccoli rabe, which ended up far too bitter. There were, with both attempts, problems: both times it was messy, ingredients spilling everywhere as we tried to plate slices.

THIRD TIME’S THE CHARM

These last few months have gifted many of us a whole lot more time in the kitchen, and so we decided to tackle another timpano, maybe see if we could perfect our previous missteps.

The recipe you’ll find on these pages no longer took a week to prep — we counted five hours of work between the two of us, my wife and I, and much of it can be done in advance. Make it easier by planning the prep around other meals; double the meatball recipe for dinner Thursday, leaving the leftovers for assemblage on Saturday. The toughest part is the dough. Rolling it out is a downright workout. This timpano came out of our oven in the era of social distancing, and so we sliced it up alone, just for ourselves. Then we reheated thick wedges of the remnants for a week of leftovers.

Once sliced, the final result looks layered like a terrine, full of bright colors and stunning shapes. It is, undoubtedly, difficult to master, but it also just might be the most stunning showpiece ever to grace the center of your table.

INGREDIENTS

2 shallots, minced

5 garlic cloves, minced

3⁄4 cup day-old crustless bread

1⁄4 cup whole milk

1 cup pecorino romano

5 eggs

1 teaspoons kosher salt

2 pounds ground beef

5 cups San Marzano tomatoes, crushed

1⁄2 glass dry red wine

1 eggplant

1 zucchini

1 summer squash

Dried oregano

2 cups ricotta

1⁄2 cup fresh basil, chopped

1 cup shredded mozzarella

1 cup shredded parmesan

15 ounces of flour6 egg yolks

4 tablespoons olive oil, divided

2 tsp kosher salt

1 box of ziti

Nutmeg

PREPARATION

1. In a large bowl, soak bread crumbs in milk 5 minutes. Combine soaked breadcrumbs with 1 shallot, black pepper, garlic, pecorino romano, 2 eggs, and salt and pepper. Roll into 2-ounce meatballs. Sear on all sides in olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat, finishing in a 350-degree oven for 30 minutes.

2. In the frying pan used to cook meatballs, add 1 shallot and 3 garlic cloves and cook 2 minutes. Deglaze with red wine, using wooden spoon to release bits. Add tomatoes and simmer until sauce is needed.

3. Cut eggplant, zucchini, and summer squash into quarter-inch slices, add salt and pepper to taste, and sprinkle with dried oregano. Bake at 350 degrees in one layer on cookie sheets until just soft, about 10 minutes.

4. Combine ricotta with 1 egg, basil, and parmesan.

5. Boil ziti to barely al dente and toss with red sauce.

6. Pour flour onto work surface and add 2 eggs, 6 egg yolks, 2 teaspoons kosher salt, and 2 tablespoons olive oil. Use a fork to beat into a slurry before using hands to form shaggy dough. Knead until smooth. Wrap in plastic wrap and rest for 30 minutes before rolling out until 1/8-inch thick.

7. Drape dough over a 5-quart enameled or cast iron dutch oven and work gently into sides, so that there are few gaps.

8. Begin to fill timpano with half of ziti, arranging in spiral. Add meatballs, then ricotta, pushing cheese down to fill in gaps in meatballs. Sprinkle half of mozzarella, then layer vegetables, pressing down with hands to solidify. Add another spiral of ziti, then sprinkle with rest of mozzarella and press down.

9. Fold sides of dough over top of timpano until there are no gaps. Use shears to trim excess dough.

10. Cover and bake in a 375-degree oven for 1 hour. Remove lid or aluminum foil and bake 1 more hour. Let rest 1 hour before carefully inverting onto serving platter.

11. Slice timpano into cake-like wedges and serve over a spoonful of red sauce, optionally grating nutmeg over the top.