From Big Night · 1996 · Screen-exact
Timpano
Serve when
Primo carries the timpano out to the table and the whole room falls silent — cut it then.
Before you start
Baked, rested and domed hours ahead; loosen the edges before you invert so it turns out clean and whole.
Cook-along start: before the movie
In the movie
Theatrical
- ~01:12:30 The centerpiece of the big night itself — Primo unveils the timpano at the table, and the room goes silent
The timpano is Primo at his most uncompromising — a monument of a dish, saved for the night that is supposed to save the restaurant. When it is cut, the table falls silent, and Secondo checks the slice like a jeweler. No shortcuts, even at the cost of the business.
Ingredients
Method
- Make the dough: mound the flour, crack in the eggs, add salt and olive oil, and knead until smooth. Rest it under a bowl for 30 minutes.
- Roll the dough into a round large enough to line a generously oiled, deep round pan with plenty of overhang.
- Toss the very-al-dente ziti with a few cups of ragù — it should be dressed, not drowned.
- Layer into the dough-lined pan: half the ziti, then salami, provolone, hard-boiled eggs, meatballs, and romano. Ladle ragù over. Repeat.
- Fold the dough overhang up and over to seal the timpano completely.
- Bake at 350°F for about an hour, covered with foil for the first 30 minutes, until the crust is deep golden and an instant-read thermometer pushed to the center reads at least 120°F — proof the middle is hot through.
- Rest for at least 30 minutes — Primo would insist. Invert onto a board, unmold, and slice into wedges at the table.
Beyond the recipe
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