Timpana recipe, make your own traditional Maltese baked macaroni in a pastry case

Timpana is the ultimate pasta pie! Macaroni with bolognaise style sauce are baked in a pastry case in either a deep dish or baking tray until its golden brown. You can find this dish in the typical pastizzerias for a really cheap price!

Ingredients to make your own Timpana:

      500g puff pastry (frozen sheets)
      500g dried macaroni or penne
      300g beef mince
      300g pork mince
      300g chicken livers, diced (optional)
      300g bacon, finely diced
      500g onions, finely diced
      4 cloves garlic, crushed
      150g parmesan cheese, grated
      150g tasty cheese, grated
      7 eggs, beaten
      200g tomato paste
      200g tomato purée
      500ml chicken or beef stock
      150g butter
      Salt and pepper

For glaze
      100ml milk
      1 egg, extra      

Don't worry, preparing Timpana is not hard:

Preheat oven to 180˚C.

Fry onions and garlic in olive oil for 5 minutes, then add bacon and pork mince, stirring well to separate.
Add beef mince and continue stirring, cooking for another 10 minutes. If you want to try the traditional recipe, add chicken livers and cook for another 5 minutes. Now, pour the stock, mix well and bring to boil. Simmer for 20 minutes. Add tomato paste and tomato purée.

While the sauce is cooking, cook pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water until just undercooked, a bit before al dente, to give you an idea. Drain and mix with sauce, adding parmesan and tasty cheese.
Stir in beaten eggs to give consistency to the mixture. 

Line a greased baking dish with the pastry, also on the sides. Fill it with the pasta dressed up with the bolognaise sauce and cover the top with another layer of pastry which has been pricked all over with a knife to let steam escape.

Bake for 1 to 1 ½ hours and Enjoy!

View our list more tasty Maltese specialities such as Aljotta and Bigilla!