Macaroni Timbale

About the dish

The timbale was a fine entremets in bourgeois festive fare: a mold lined with a pattern (here macaroni pieces) and filled with meat forcemeat around a «core» of vegetables, poultry, or ham. The dish shows how macaroni in Erken's time was used both for decoration and as an ingredient in its own right.

How to make it

1. 1

   Boil the macaroni

   Boil the macaroni in boiling, salted water until tender, but be careful that it does not boil to pieces.

2. 2

   Drain and cut up

   Lay the macaroni on a cloth so the water drains off well, and cut it into pieces slightly narrower than 1 cm.

3. 3

   Line the mold

   Grease a smooth, preferably round mold or small timbale molds well. Set the macaroni pieces around the whole mold with a fork and brush very carefully with a little egg white.

4. 4

   Fill with forcemeat

   Carefully place the meat forcemeat in the mold. Make a hollow in the center of the forcemeat with a teaspoon and fill it with peas, chopped poultry, finely cut ham, cooked celeriac, or whatever you have. Lay a lid of forcemeat over it. Do not fill the mold too full.

5. 5

   Bake in a water bath

   Set the mold in a water bath in the oven, cover with a white paper greased with cold butter, and let it cook for 15–20 minutes.

6. 6

   Turn out and serve

   Take the mold out of the oven, let it stand 1–2 minutes, and turn it out carefully. Serve with a sharp brown sauce, tomato sauce, or mushroom sauce, as a dish of its own or together with salted tongue.