Let’s prepare some timballini of crepes, artichokes and burrata cheese…

An Italian timbale (timballo or timpano), is an unique baked pasta dish, with its variation on the themes in each and every region, based on the ingredients used as well as the different local prepping methods and styles.

It’s an opulent, drum-shaped dish, molded in a casserole, and served as main course during celebrations and important occasions: Christmas, Ferragosto, New Year’s Day, and a feast for the Sunday table.

Let’s hear it from our Sara and Buon Appetibilis!

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This timballo typical from Abruzzo (Teramo area), is reminiscent of a lasagna, made, in this case, of many layers of crespelle (or scrippelle) – thin crepes/pancakes (instead of egg pasta sheets) – usually filled with a meat (meatball/pallotte) ragout, artichokes, piselli or spinach.

My recipe is vegetarian, it includes a stuffing made of “Romanesco” artichokes – also know as Mammole (medium/small globes, with no thorns) – and burrata cheese, (ideal for binding). I’m serving it on a cream of local pecorino and saffron (from Navelli area), topped with local minced walnuts.

Recipe for small Timballi Abruzzo Style

[servings: 4 | time: 1hr 40 min | difficulty: medium-difficult]
| Please note that the info and directions provided for the recipe are indicative: the end result may vary from person to person |

Ingredients

for crepes

• 2 eggs
• 200 mL of skimmed milk
• 75 g of wheat flour (*)
• Oil to fry

for stuffing

• 4 artichokes (“romaneschi” type)
• 100 g of minced walnuts
• fresh thyme
• Salt
• 2 tablespoons of oil (**)
• 1 piece of Burrata cheese (around 250 g)

for Pecorino cream:

• 400 g of Pecorino cheese
• 250 mL of fresh cream
• 1 sachet of saffron powder (few threads for decoration)

Tools & Notes

• Chopping board, chef knife, spoons, frying pan, ramekins.
• (*) For a Gluten-Free version – Just substitute regular flour with the GF of your liking.
• (**) About the oil – Unless otherwise specified, we use the organic and cold-pressed type of sunflower seed oil, or extra virgin olive oil.

Preparation

1. Let’s make the Crêpes – Break the eggs into a bowl, add some milk, a spoonful of oil, a pinch of salt and the sifted flour. Mix the ingredients using a whisk, (eventually) adding more milk until you get a smooth cream. Leave to rest in the fridge for about 30 minutes.
2. About the stuffing – Remove the artichoke thickest external leaves, cut them into four pieces and slice them. Heat some oil in a frying pan, add the artichokes and thyme. After a few minutes add some hot water (or white wine), and cover. Cook until the artichokes become soft.
3. Back to the Crêpes – Heat a non-sticking pan with some butter, pour a laddle of mixture while moving the pan in order to spread the mixture all over the surface. Cook the crepes and flip it a couple of times… (as thin as possible).
4. Back to filling – Mix burrata cheese with cooked artichokes, chopped walnuts and some spoonfuls of grated Pecorino cheese. Salt to taste. (Keep some artichoke slices for decoration).
5. Grease the ramekins with butter, (single-dose aluminum containers are ok too). Divide the crepes into two parts, place them onto the bottom of each ramekin, fill with some stuffing, fold one flap, fill with another spoonful and again fold the second flap then close the crepes. Bake in the oven at 170 °C for about 20 minutes.
6. Pecorino cream – Heat the cream in a small casserole, add some grated Pecorino, mix and let it melt until it becomes creamy. Add the saffron and mix it with a blender to obtain a softer cream.
7. Presentation – Pour a generous amount of pecorino cream on the botton of the dish, place the “timballino” and decorate with some artichoke slices, minced walnuts, few saffron threads, and a bit of extra oil.

Useful links

• To prep some more scrippelle, check our “Savory Crêpes Surprise“
• To know more about artichokes, check this comprehensive article on The Best Way to Prep and Eat an Artichoke
• Per la ricetta in italiano cliccate su “I timballini al profumo romanesco“

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