Eggplant Pasta "Tambourine" with Burrata
Also called Tamburello di Melanzane
Allie, a friend and reluctant cooking student, stopped by one evening in a particularly bad mood. She was emotionally distraught, depressed, and in no state to be consoled. Fortunately for Allie, I was cooking my first timballo.
Timballo is a baked Italian dish usually filled with pasta or rice. The word itself means drum, as it’s shaped like a kettledrum. But because I cook mine in a simple springform pan, so it looks more like a tambourine, I call it a tamburello. Whatever it’s called, for Allie that night, my tomato, basil, and burrata pasta-cake, wrapped in grilled eggplant, meant love.
By the end of dinner, Allie was laughing and talking about exciting possibilities for her professional and personal life. I pointed out her change of mood and asked if she thought the tamburello had anything to do with it. “Oh my God, yes!” she said. “I never realized this before, but good food, made with love, has the power to change a person. It could change the whole world!”
In my head, I was steaming; I’d been telling her this FOREVER!! I say those precise words in a video on the homepage of my website. Was she not paying attention?
In all fairness to Allie, it’s not something you learn from words. It’s something that must be felt. Tasted. And my tamburello led her there.
Lead someone there yourself with this recipe.
Serves 8
INGREDIENTS
Special equipment: 9-inch springform pan
Kosher salt
1 pound penne rigate, or any other tubular pasta
1 1⁄2 recipe Simple Tomato and Basil Sauce
1 pound burrata, cut into very small pieces
1 bunch basil, thinly sliced
Extra-virgin olive oil
Grated Parmigiano Reggiano, to serve
DIRECTIONS
Make the pasta:
Bring a large pot of water to boil over high heat. Throw in a handful of salt, and cook the pasta until it’s 4 minutes away from being al dente, or a little over half the cooking time suggested on the box. Drain the pasta.
Mix the hot pasta with the tomato sauce in its pot or in a large mixing bowl. Add the burrata and 1⁄2 teaspoon of salt. Stir to melt. The sauce should look creamy from the added cheese. Add the basil, and mix to combine. Set aside.
Build the tamburello:
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Line the springform pan with the roasted eggplant. Your goal is to create an “eggplant bowl” that you will fill with the pasta. In order for the eggplant bowl to hold the pasta, it can’t have cracks. So you need to overlap each piece of eggplant to make sure there are no openings. Here’s how to do it:
Use a little olive oil on a paper towel to lightly oil the springform pan.
Use a few slices of eggplant to mostly cover the bottom of the pan. Be sure to overlap the edges.
Begin to lay the eggplant up the sides of the pan, and let the pieces hang over the top edge. Each eggplant slice must slightly overlap the one next to it and must overlap the one below it on the bottom of the pan.
Go around until you have a “bowl” made of eggplant.
Fill your eggplant bowl with the pasta, pushing it down to make sure all spaces are filled. Flip over the eggplant side flaps and cover the pasta with remaining eggplant slices, overlapping of course.
Bake in the oven for 30 minutes. (Since the oil may seep through the cracks of the cake pan, I usually place a baking sheet on the bottom rack of the oven to catch it.)
Remove and let sit for about 10 minutes. (The longer it sits, the less messy it will be when cut.)
Place a large serving plate on top of the pan. Holding onto the plate and the pan, flip them over carefully so that the plate is on bottom.
Remove the springform pan.
Use a large sharp knife to cut and a spatula/cake knife to serve.
Top with freshly grated Parmigiano
Make-Ahead Prep:
You can make the sauce and grill the eggplant 1 to 3 days in advance. Just note that if you are taking the ingredients from the cold fridge, they may need more time in the oven.