Big Night Timpano Recipe (2024)

Published: · Modified: by Kristina Sloggett · This post may contain affiliate links · 29 Comments

This vegan Big Night timpano recipe is layers of red, white, and green pasta wrapped in flaky puff pastry. The flavors and colors of Italy, the perfect comfort food!

recipe originally published September 7, 2015

Big Night Timpano Recipe (1)

Vegan Timpano Recipe

Big Night is one of my favorite movies. Have you seen it? Two brothers running a restaurant, and make an epic meal and a big party for a guest of honor, Louis Prima.

This isn't the first movie inspired recipe I have made. My Chef's Mojo Cubano sandwich is another recipe from another favorite movie.

A Timpano - also called a Timballo - is an Italian baked pasta dish.

Big Night Timpano Recipe (2)

How to make a timpano like Big Night

A glorious carb stuffed with carbs. This would be perfect before a marathon. or during a Netflix one...

This is a two day project for me. Day one, I made batches of my slow cooker basil marinaraandcashew bechamel. Day two, I cooked the pasta and made the dough. Okay, nope - this time I wondered what a puff pastry shell would be like?

Then on day two I cooked the pasta, popped open two cans of crescent dough, and layered the three colors inside. Oh. Yum.

Big Night Timpano Recipe (3)

Big Night Timpano Recipe (4)

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Yield: 8 servings

Vegan Timpano Recipe Big Night

Big Night Timpano Recipe (5)

The ultimate Italian comfort food: layers of red, white, and green pasta wrapped in a flakypuff pastry dome.

Ingredients

  • 2 pounds penne pasta, cooked according to package instructions
  • 1 large handful fresh baby spinach leaves, chopped
  • ⅓ cup Basil Pesto
  • 1 ¼ cups Cashew Bechamel
  • 2 cups Vegan Meat Crumbles
  • 2 cups Slow Cooker Basil Marinara
  • 2 tubes vegan crescent dough (sheets if you can find them)
  • oil or cooking spray

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 °F.
  2. Grease an oven safe bowl large enough to hold 2+ pounds of cooked pasta.
  3. Open crescent dough tubes, unroll oneand pinch together to make one sheet. Use ⅓ of second tube to create a full square of dough. Line bowl with dough, draping over edge to seal closed later.
  4. Divide cooked penne noodles into three bowls. Add marinara and beef crumbles to one bowl,bechamel to second bowl, pesto and chopped spinach to third bowl, stirring all to coat completely.
  5. Layer pastas in dough lined bowl: marinara first (this will be the top once flipped over), bechamel second (middle layer), finishing with pesto spinach layer (base layer once flipped).
  6. Cover pasta withremaining crescent dough, pinching together with overlap dough to seal around edge. Bake at350 °F for 38-43 minutes, or until dough is golden brown and completely cooked.
  7. I used an oven safe glass bowl, so I was able to see the dough bake and become golden brown). At 30 minutes, the top was perfectly browned, so I loosely covered with foil to keep from burning while continuing to bake).

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

8

Serving Size:

1

Amount Per Serving:Calories: 356Total Fat: 11gUnsaturated Fat: 7gSodium: 122mgCarbohydrates: 40gFiber: 5gSugar: 2gProtein: 18g

nutrition calculations results vary by calculator, are for informational purposes only, and are not intended to replace medical advice or treatment.

about Kristina:

Big Night Timpano Recipe (6)Kristina is spabettie! She found cooking at an early age, and created spabettie in 2010 to share vegan recipes. Kristina turned her culinary training into sharing vibrant vegan food! Read more...

spabettie / Kristina Sloggett is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Laura says

    Can pie dough be used instead of crescent rolls?

    Reply

    • Kristina Sloggett says

      yes, it absolutely can, I have done this before. Enjoy!

      Reply

  2. Michelle @ A Dish of Daily Life says

    I've never seen a Timpano before...what a fun recipe! I definitely need to try this! And I need to see that movie too!

    Reply

    • Kristina Sloggett says

      a good goal. Jason could not stop talking about this all week.

      Reply

  3. allie @ Through Her Looking Glass says

    So Kristina, now of course I just HAVE to see Big Night...Never had a timpano either, but now I need that too. Needy girl I am. Love this cooks in a glass bowl. Very cool dish!

    Reply

  4. Laura @MotherWouldKnow says

    The Big Night is one of my husband and my favorite movies too - and we dream of timpano but I've never tried to make it. This is inspirational, in the way that only a great blog can be - thanks. And if I make it you'll be the first person I give a shout-out to:)

    Reply

    • Kristina Sloggett says

      ah, thank you Laura - that means more than you know. I hope you DO make this, just because it is SO GOOD. and really fun too. my husband could not stop talking about it.

      Reply

  5. Becks (Not A Rabbit) says

    I've never heard of Timpano but before (I live under a rock!) but it looks *AMAZING*. This is perfect food for carb loading before a (Netflix) marathon! And if the movie has this in it, I must see it!

    Carbs wrapped in carbs? Feed me, Seymour! 😀

    Reply

    • Kristina Sloggett says

      HEE HEE! hi Becks *waves* you MUST see this movie, it is a great one.

      Reply

  6. Kacey @ The Cookie Writer says

    I have never seen this idea before but does it ever look good!! I cannot wait to show my husband!

    Reply

    • Kristina Sloggett says

      you should MAKE this for the husband! 😀 mine could not stop talking about it...

      Reply

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Big Night Timpano Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What did they cook in the movie Big Night? ›

It took me all day to make timpano, the special Calabrian pasta dish that serves as the (epicurean and narrative) centerpiece to Big Night, the 1996 movie co-directed by Stanley Tucci and Campbell Scott.

What was the dish in Big Night? ›

A timpano is an Italian dish of pasta, tomato sauce, roasted vegetables (and sometimes meat), hard-boiled eggs, and cheese shaped into a dome, covered with dough and baked. It was made famous in America in the Stanley Tucci movie Big Night, and is a dramatic centerpiece dish for any meal.

What part of Italy is timpano from? ›

The timpano is said to date back to the 19th century, and is said to be the favorite dish of writer Giuseppe di Tomasi di Lampedusa, who consumed his timpano made with the "unborn eggs from the ovary of a chicken." And while the dish is commonly thought to come from southern Italy's Calabria region (via The Chicago ...

Where did Timballo originate? ›

Timballo teramano, one of the signature dishes of the Abruzzo region of Italy, is a kind of lasagna, but a very special one, made with the ultra-thin regional version of crepes called scrippelle instead of pasta.

What food did they make in the movie chef? ›

Juicy Cuban Mojo Pork Roast (Chef Movie recipe) This is the Mojo Marinated Roast Pork from the John Favreau movie "Chef". The recipe was created by rock star LA chef Roy Choi. The flavours of the marinade are classic Cuban, citrusy and strong.

What happened at the end of Big Night? ›

As dawn breaks, Secondo silently cooks an omelette. When done, he divides it in thirds, giving one to Cristiano, one for himself, and leaving the remainder in the pan. Primo hesitantly enters, and Secondo serves him the last portion. Cristiano leaves, as the brothers begin to eat.

What does il timpano mean? ›

The Italian, Spanish and Portuguese words for eardrum. The singular of Timpani.

Where does the Big Night take place? ›

Fresh audience score. Chef Primo (Tony Shalhoub) and businessman Secondo (Stanley Tucci) are immigrant brothers from Italy who open their dream restaurant, Paradise, in New Jersey. However, Primo's authentic food is too unfamiliar for the local tastes, and the restaurant is struggling.

What is the history of the timpano? ›

The Timpano is a kind of old-fashioned pasta timbale, and the first version of this monumental dish was invented by chefs of the Medici court and served to aristocratic guests during the Renaissance at the banquets in Palazzo Pitti in Florence.

Is spaghetti from Sicily? ›

It is not difficult to believe that with the abundance of several varieties of durum wheat that thrive in the dry climates of Italy, pasta came out of ancient Sicily.

Who owns timpano restaurant? ›

In the interim, Tavistock Restaurant Collection, the Orlando-based chain restaurant group that owns Timpano, hired a new executive chef and the space underwent a complete gut renovation and interior overhaul.

What does timballo mean in Italian? ›

Timballo is the Italian word for “drum”, which happens to be the root word for the large half-round orchestral drum called a timpani.

What is the oldest pasta shape? ›

The earliest pasta shape would have been a simple sheet, which was treated more like bread dough. For pasta that was dried and then boiled in water, the first shape might have been something like acini de pepe, since the little balls could be made simply by hand.

Who invented ziti? ›

With conflicting accounts of its origin, Ziti is a Southern Italian pasta from either Campania or Sicliy. In Southern Italy, the term “zita” refers to a young bride, as this pasta shape is usually served up at weddings.

What was the first Italian pasta shape? ›

The earliest pasta shape was a simple sheet, which was treated more like bread dough. It probably didn't have the toothsome quality – known as “al dente” – associated with Italian pasta today, and would have been similar to unleavened matzo bread with sauce on it.

Where is Big Night filmed? ›

If Primo and Secondo's Paradise were to open today in, say, Keyport, New Jersey (where Big Night was shot), “beating the Yelpers to it would be a major coup”, Batali said.

How food is an expression of identity in Big Night 1996? ›

Food is central in the film as it is revealing of ethnicity, identity, it represents the language through which the protagonists express their feelings and thoughts, it is a manifestation of artistic talent and symbolic for the structure of the film and of the other characters.

When was the movie Big Night filmed? ›

Scott Conant - As an homage to the 1996 film #BigNight, we... | Facebook.

What is the name of the movie tired of the ultra rich a restaurant chef decides to cook the guests? ›

The Menu (2022) - Plot - IMDb.

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