Baked Anelletti from Palermo.
A timballo of oven-baked anelletti is the most popular “pasta bakes” in Sicily, particularly for Sunday lunches, special occasions and holidays such as Christmas. It takes a little time to make but the looks on your guests’ faces will make it worth it!
Timballo di Anelletti.
The first time I saw this dish I thought it must be quite difficult to make. But, having done it (I confess with my Sicilian husband’s help!), I can say the only aspect that needs to be taken into account is that, for a pasta dish, it takes quite a long time to make. However, the looks on your family or guests’ faces will be worth the time you put in..I promise you!
(This post first appeared in 2017 but has been updated)
The Pasta
Anelletti are little rings of dry pasta of about one centimeter in diameter. In Palermo, baked anelletti can be found in most restaurants and eateries, from fast food establishments to the bars with delis. This pasta is also cooked a lot at home, although the recipe here is made mostly on Sundays and feast days because of the long preparation required.
Rather than make a timballo many people also just bake the pasta with meat sauce in a normal oven dish, which is easier but doesn’t look as impressive!
In Sicily, you can also find single portions of baked anelletti, called “timbaletti”. These are prepared in aluminum containers in the shape of a truncated cone and are a popular takeaway snack.
The base of this baked anelletti dish is a ragu similar to Bolognese. However, in Sicily, the ragu is almost always made with the addition of peas. Apart from the meat sauce ingredients and the anelletti pasta, you only need some cooked ham and cheese. For the inside of the timballo, I used caciocavallo, a stretched-curd cheese produced throughout Southern Italy. I also covered the top with grated Parmigiano Reggiano. You can also use pecorino.
Different versions of baked anelletti timballo
Among the many variations of this recipe are some with boiled eggs in the filling, and cheeses other than caciocavallo for example, provola or primo sale. Sometimes the pasta is encased in pastry or the outside of the ‘timballo’ is covered with slices of fried egg plant instead of breadcrumbs. This looks absolutely amazing! Take a look at my parmigiana timballo recipe to see an example.
I hope you give this timballo a go because it’s a wonderful dish, perfect for family occasions and holidays.
If you do make this Sicilian baked anelletti timballo recipe, I’d love to hear how it turns out and if you liked it. So, please leave a comment here on the blog or on The Pasta Project Facebook page.
Looking forward to hearing from you!
Buon Appetito
Want to know more about my life in Italy? Why not subscribe to my newsletter? New subscribers get a free series of recipe e-books too!
Another anelletti recipe to try.
Anelletti pasta egg plant boats!
Save this recipe for later?
If you want to save this recipe for later, you can print it, bookmark this page or save it to Pinterest.
Baked Sicilian Anelletti Timballo
Ingredients
For the meat sauce (ragu)
- 400 g ground beef or beef and pork or veal mix (14oz)
- 1/2 glass red wine
- 150 g peas (5oz)
- 2-3 carrots
- 2-3 celery stalk
- 1 medium sized onion peeled
- 3 garlic cloves peeled
- Extra virgin olive oil
- 1 handful basil leaves
- 350 g tomato passata rustica (12oz)
- salt and pepper to taste
For the Timballo
- 400 g anelletti (14 oz)
- breadcrumbs as required
- 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 50 g grated parmesan (2oz) grana or pecorino
- 150 g cooked ham (5oz) cut into cubes
- 150 g Caciocavallo or Primo sale cheese (5oz) cut into cubes
Instructions
- First make the meat sauce.
- Chop the carrot, onion, garlic and celery finely. Fry the vegetables in olive oil until they start to soften. Be careful not to let them to burn!
- Add the minced meat and cook until browned. Add the glass of red wine and stir well
- When the wine has evaporated pour in the passata and mix it in well with the meat. Add the fresh basil and salt and pepper as required.
- Cover the sauce and allow to simmer on a low heat for at least an hour, stirring occasionally so it doesn’t stick. If it gets too thick add some water.
- 10 minutes before the sauce is cooked, add the peas.
While the sauce is cooking you can get on with the rest of the dish.
- Put water on to boil for the pasta. Add salt once it starts to boil. Cook the pasta 2-3 minutes less than instructed on the packet. Drain and add the anelletti to the meat sauce when it is ready. Mix the pasta and sauce well and allow to cool.
- Grease the sides and base of a deep cake tin with olive oil (I use a spring form tin which makes getting the timballo out easier!)
- Line the sides and base of the tin with breadcrumbs.
- Once the pasta and meat mixture has cooled spoon a thick layer into the base of the tin.
- Make another layer from the chopped ham and caciocavallo cheese and finish off with another thick layer of the pasta and meat sauce.
- Press the mixture down and cover the top with more breadcrumbs and grated parmesan cheese.
- Cook the timballo at 200 degrees in a preheated oven for 25-30 minutes.
- When it is ready, allow to cool for 15 minutes before inverting it onto a serving plate and removing the tin.
Pin for Later
If you are interested in learning how to make homemade pasta and different types of gnocchi, check out my shop page for some great video online courses from my friends in Rome! Nothing beats learning to make pasta from Italians! Plus while you’re there why not order a copy of my newly published autumn/winter pasta recipes cookbook?
Anna Martino says
Hi I love your recipe however I’m concerned about the timbale falling apart once it is unfolded. Can you ad an egg to bind it? Also I have a lactose problem, is there any other cheese I can add, pecorino Romano seems ok for me. Also my grand kids don’t like peas can I use something else in place of peas? I really want to try this recipe, it sounds delicious.
Jacqui says
Hi Anna, thanks for your comment. I don’t add egg to this recipe but of course you can to be sure it doesn’t fall apart. You can leave the peas out or add another veg that your grandkids like, maybe finely diced zucchini or mushrooms? Re the cheese I know provolone has a low level of lactose. You could try that. Do let me know how it turns out if you make this baked anelletti.
Anna Martino says
My Timbale turned out absolutely delicious. I left out the peas, I added sliced hard boiled eggs. I definitely will experiment further with this wonderful dish. I think I will some egg to prevent it from falling apart next time. Thank you ❤️
Jacqui says
Hi Anna, I’m happy to hear your timbllo was a success! Great idea to add eggs. That’s also very traditional in Southern Italian baked pasta.
Shash says
Has anyone else had trouble with the sauce leaking out of the bottom of the pan? I used a springform cake pan (with no hole in the middle) and tried to cover the outside of the bottom with foil when I saw it leaking, but it still leaked (which made it a bit dry). I am wondering how to prevent this next time?
Jacqui says
Hi Shash, thanks for your comment. I’ve never had a problem with the sauce for this recipe leaking out of a springform pan. However, with cakes the batter can be quite liquid and it’s sometimes necessary to take steps to prevent leaking. Next time, you can try lining the bottom of the pan with parchment/baking paper cut into a circle a little bigger than the pan before filling it with the pasta and sauce and then wrap the pan in foil.
boo says
How kind of you to include a recipe among your ads
Jacqui says
Hi Boo, I’m sorry that you had a problem with the ads on my site. Unfortunately, they are a necessary evil which allow me to make an income from my blog and cover my costs. Every recipe here requires lots of time to make. I research the recipes, buy the ingredients, make the dish, take the photos and then write the post and publish it. One recipe can take 1-2 days to have published. Plus I have costs just to have and run a website! I’d love to do it for free but that’s not possible. I don’t ask visitors to pay for my work and the recipes, just put up with some ads. However, there is a ‘jump to recipe’ button at the top of every recipe post which allows you to skip most of the content and ads.
Nisha says
Wow this looks amazing! It has turned out so perfectly and the pictures look great, nice to read about this wonderful recipe.
Brent Wells says
I tried this for the first time tonight and it turned out great!! It does take awhile but consider it a labor of love. It is such an impressive presentation and the taste is amazing!! I will definitely make this again. I did have some initial trouble getting the bread crumbs to stick to the sides of the non-stick pan with the olive oil. 5 Stars All the Way!
Jacqui says
Thanks so much for your comment Brent! I’m thrilled your baked anelletti was such a success!
Max says
the oven temp is 200 deg C, not F…I added a 1/4 cup of sweet chili sauce to give a faint touch of bite…
Jacqui says
Thanks for pointing the oven temperature out Max! Yes of course deg C not F. I’ll correct the recipe. Sweet chili sauce sounds like a delicious addition!
Gary says
Do you think your husbands Sicilian family would think sweet chili sauce would make a delicious addition? LOL
Edward Evison says
Hi
What are the measurements for the baking tin?
Thanks
Jacqui says
Hi Edward! I used a 25 cm (10″) springform baking tin with a funnel.
Sue says
I tried making this and it didn’t come out as a cake. I read in other recipes that it requires a lot of cheese or egg to bind the pasta. Did I miss something in this recipe? The combination was tasty, but basically it had to be spooned out of the cake tin.
Jacqui says
Dear Sue, I’m sorry to hear that your timballo didn’t stay together. We’ve made this recipe a number of times without extra eggs or cheese and it comes out as a ‘cake’. It’s important to let it sit for at least 15 minutes before turning it out. As the pasta and sauce cools it tends to stick together. Perhaps I need to emphasize that more on the recipe instructions. Of course, you can add eggs or more cheese to help bind it but the taste will be different.
Renu says
This looks a perfect one pot types of bakes and definitely kids would love this. Awesome
Chef Mireille says
This is such a fabulous comfort food dish and I can vouch for it that the work that goes into this dish is so worth it!