This rich, elegant Neapolitan noodle timpano with mussels was written up by Cavalcanti, one of the great 18th century Neapolitan gastronomes. To serve 6:
Prep Time: 1 hour
Cook Time: 1 hour
Ingredients:
- ** For The Filling **
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 1/4 pounds canned tomatoes
- Abundant parsley, minced (1/4 cup or more, to taste)
- Pepper
- 1/3 cup capers (salted would be better)
- 1/4 pound sweet black olives (not the bitter variety)
- 1 1/4 pounds shelled peas
- 1/4 pound cultivated mushrooms
- 2 pounds fresh live mussels
- 3/4 pound shrimp
- 1/2 pound baby calamari
- 1/2 cup dry white wine
- Salt, if necessary
- ** For the Pasta **
- 1 1/4 pounds vermicelli (you'll want long-stranded, sturdy pasta here)
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 1/4 pound salted anchovies
- 1 clove garlic
- Abundant parsley, minced (1/4 cup or more, to taste)
- 2 tablespoons bread crumbs
Preparation:
Wash the mussels thoroughly, scrubbing them until the rinse water comes away clear. Peel the shrimp, setting aside their shells. Soak the capers for an hour, changing the water several times. Pit and halve the olives. Rinse, bone, and chop the anchovies. Drain the tomatoes well, quarter them, and discard their seeds. Wash and clean (if need be) the calamari, and dice them.
Wash and pat dry the mushrooms, slice them, and sauté them in 2 tablespoons of oil with a half a clove of garlic; continue cooking them until the water they give off is reabsorbed, then remove them from the fire and discard the garlic.
Set a broad, low-sided skillet over a low flame and sauté a clove of garlic in 1/4 cup olive oil in it. When the garlic begins to brown add the mussels. Stir them about, and as they open remove them from the pot. Should any not open, do not pry them open: They were dead to begin with and eating them could make you quite sick. When you have finished shell the mussels (discard the shells), and strain the liquid from the skillet though a fine cloth and set it aside.
Sauté another clove of garlic in the remaining oil, and when it has browned add the tomatoes. Cook them for about 20 minutes, adding the white wine to the sauce, and then the calamari. Simmer 10 minutes more, then add the peas, the olives, the capers, and the mushrooms. Season with pepper, cook a few minutes more, and add the shrimp and the mussels. Simmer five minutes more, turn off the flame, stir in the parsley, and cover.
Sauté the last clove of garlic in a third of a cup of olive oil, stir in the bread crumbs, and when the mixture begins to brown add the chopped anchovies and minced parsley. Continue cooking and stirring until the fish comes apart.
Cook the pasta until it's half done in unsalted water. In the meantime bring the reserved mussel broth to a boil. Drain the pasta and finish cooking it in the mussel broth, then stir it into the skillet with the anchovy-and-bread-crumb mixture and simmer it over a vary low flame for a few minutes. Check seasoning, adding salt if necessary.
You are now ready to assemble things. Preheat your oven to 360 F (180 C), grease a 10-inch diameter, 3-inch high pan, and fill it with 3/4 of the pasta, laying the pasta out in a ring so there's a hole in the middle. Fill the ring with the filling, spread the remaining pasta over it to cover, and dust the timpano with bread crumbs. Dot it with butter, and bake it in the oven until it is well browned, about 40 minutes. Let it rest for ten minutes after removing it from the oven, then transfer it to a serving dish and serve.
A wine? A fruity white, for example a Fiano di Avellino.
Yield: 6 servings vermicelli noodle timpano.
Wash and pat dry the mushrooms, slice them, and sauté them in 2 tablespoons of oil with a half a clove of garlic; continue cooking them until the water they give off is reabsorbed, then remove them from the fire and discard the garlic.
Set a broad, low-sided skillet over a low flame and sauté a clove of garlic in 1/4 cup olive oil in it. When the garlic begins to brown add the mussels. Stir them about, and as they open remove them from the pot. Should any not open, do not pry them open: They were dead to begin with and eating them could make you quite sick. When you have finished shell the mussels (discard the shells), and strain the liquid from the skillet though a fine cloth and set it aside.
Sauté another clove of garlic in the remaining oil, and when it has browned add the tomatoes. Cook them for about 20 minutes, adding the white wine to the sauce, and then the calamari. Simmer 10 minutes more, then add the peas, the olives, the capers, and the mushrooms. Season with pepper, cook a few minutes more, and add the shrimp and the mussels. Simmer five minutes more, turn off the flame, stir in the parsley, and cover.
Sauté the last clove of garlic in a third of a cup of olive oil, stir in the bread crumbs, and when the mixture begins to brown add the chopped anchovies and minced parsley. Continue cooking and stirring until the fish comes apart.
Cook the pasta until it's half done in unsalted water. In the meantime bring the reserved mussel broth to a boil. Drain the pasta and finish cooking it in the mussel broth, then stir it into the skillet with the anchovy-and-bread-crumb mixture and simmer it over a vary low flame for a few minutes. Check seasoning, adding salt if necessary.
You are now ready to assemble things. Preheat your oven to 360 F (180 C), grease a 10-inch diameter, 3-inch high pan, and fill it with 3/4 of the pasta, laying the pasta out in a ring so there's a hole in the middle. Fill the ring with the filling, spread the remaining pasta over it to cover, and dust the timpano with bread crumbs. Dot it with butter, and bake it in the oven until it is well browned, about 40 minutes. Let it rest for ten minutes after removing it from the oven, then transfer it to a serving dish and serve.
A wine? A fruity white, for example a Fiano di Avellino.
Yield: 6 servings vermicelli noodle timpano.
