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| Place of origin | Italy |
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Timballo is anItalian dish consisting ofpasta,rice orpotatoes, with one or more other ingredients (cheese, meat, fish, vegetables or fruit) included.[1][2] Variations include themushroom andshrimp saucetimballo Alberoni, named afterGiulio Alberoni, and theveal andtomato saucetimballo pattadese.
The name comes from the Italian from the French word for 'kettledrum' (timbale).[1] Varieties oftimballo differ from region to region, and it is sometimes known as abomba,tortino,sartù (a type ofNeapolitantimballo with rice and tomato sauce) orpasticcio (which is used more commonly to refer to a similar dish baked in a pastry crust).[1] It is also known astimpano[3] andtimbale. It is similar to acasserole and is sometimes referred to in English as apie or savorycake.[1]
The dish is prepared in a dome orspringform pan and eggs or cheese are used as a binder.[1] Rice is commonly used as an ingredient inEmilia-Romagna, where the dish is referred to as abomba and baked with a filling of pigeon or other game bird, peas, local cheese and a base of dried pasta.[1]Crêpes are used as a base inAbruzzo, and other regions useravioli orgnocchi.[1] InSicily, it is typically made with pasta andeggplant.[4]
Mushroom sauce, a richPiedmontesecheese soup and sauce, are sometimes used, andAnna Del Conte wrote thatbéchamel is the most consistently used ingredient intimballo.[1][5]
By the 1990s inCampania,timballo was rarely made in homes, more often purchased as take away from food businesses, whole or by the slice.[3]
An impressivetimballo (un torreggiante timballo de macheroni) is served as the first course in a sumptuous formal dinner hosted by the fictional Prince of Salina inGiuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa's 1958 novelThe Leopard, and also features in the 2025miniseries adaptation of the novel.
Timballo featured prominently in the 1996 filmBig Night, although the dish there is referred to astimpano (a regional or family term),[1][6][7] food writer Arthur Schwartz describes this making a "big impression" on American audiences, and several publications printed recipes.[3]
