Conversations part 2

Yesterday, I was having a conversation, wait, I have already written this, ok so yesterday was a rare day of me being social, anyway, I was chatting to Deb over at

https://debwashere.wordpress.com/2015/12/20/pasta-and-mince-meat-recipe/?c=593#comment-593

If you haven’t followed her, check her out, but this looked lovely and so I told her about a family receipe that my grandmother brought from Malta, where my dad’s side of the family is from, and I said I would get it to her, I thought I would post it for everyone.

This is the book

Its a bit beat up, or well used 😉

The dish is a dish called Timpana  or macaroni in a pastry case. Now my mum changed the dish alot, so I am going to put both of them. I don’t have photos of the finished product but when I do it again I will post it.

Original Timpana

Ingrediants:

1lb of puff or flaky pasta

1lb macaroni

1lb minced meat

half a brain or half pound chicken livers

large onion

2 heaped tablespoons tomato puree

4 tablespoons grated parmesan

salt and pepper

4 eggs

butter or oil for frying

Method

Fry the onion until golden in butter or oil or a mixture of both. Add the minced meat, salt and pepper. Stir well and cook for fifteen minutes. Add the tomato puree and half a pint of hot water together with a cube of meat stock. Simmer for at least an hour. In the meantime soak the brain, if using in salted water peel off the membranes. Blanch the brain in boiling salted water for 10 minutes. Cool and slice fairly thickly. Fry the liver if using in a little butter for 5 minutes. Boil the macaroni in plenty of salted water until barely tender. Pour one cup of cold water into the pan as soon as the macaroni is done. It is vital that the macaroni remain pretty stiff so that it will retain its shape. Mix the meat and tomato mixture into the macaroni, add the beaten eggs and the grated cheese together with sat and pepper to taste. Stir well

Roll out three quarters of the pastry to fit the bottom and sides of a cake tin or oven dish. Put in a layer of macaronii. If you have prepared brain or chicken livers arrange these over the macaroni and cover with another layer. Finally cover the whole with a pastry lid and bake in a moderate oven for 1-1.5 hours. If you have cooked the timpana in a cake tin, the pastry at the bottom may remain slightly underdone. If so take the timpana out of the oven about 15 minutes before cooking time is over and turn it upside down onto a baking tray. Return to the oven for the remaining cooking time. When aubergines are in season fry some slices of aubergine and these in the timpana instead of livers and the brain. You will find that the timpana slices better if it is allowed to stand for about half an hour after being taken out the oven. The ideal slice has neat see through circles of macaroni on both sides. This can be achieved by fearlessly undercooking the macaroni.

My mum more did Mqarrum fil-forn or baked macaroni

Ingrediants:

1lb macaroni

1lb minced meat

large onion

2 Celery stick

2 heaped tablespoons tomato puree

Tin of tomatoes

4 tablespoons grated parmesan

small tub of cottage cheese

salt and pepper

2 eggs

butter or oil for frying

Method

Fry the onion and celery  until golden in butter or oil or a mixture of both. Add the minced meat, salt and pepper. Stir well. Add the tomato puree, tin of tomatoes and mixed herbs Simmer for at least three quarters of an hour.  Boil the macaroni in plenty of salted water until barely tender. Pour one cup of cold water into the pan as soon as the macaroni is done. It is vital that the macaroni remain pretty stiff so that it will retain its shape. Mix the meat, cottage cheese and tomato mixture into the macaroni, add the beaten eggs and the grated cheese together with sat and pepper to taste. Stir well

Put in an oven dish. Bake in a  oven at 160 for three quarters of an hour to an hour. You can serve it with a salad