Abruzzo Crepe Timbale

Ingredients

• 5 Eggs
• 150 g All-purpose flour
• 400 ml Water
• 300 g Ground veal
• 500 ml Tomato passata
• 1 Onion
• 200 g Mozzarella
• 80 g Pecorino romano
• 100 ml Milk
• 2 leaves Basil
• 30 g Butter
• 3 tbsp Extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 tsp Salt
• 0.5 tsp Black pepper

Steps

1. Make the scrippelle batter: whisk the eggs with the flour, then thin with the water and a pinch of salt until smooth and runny.
2. Let it rest for 15 minutes.
3. Lightly oil a small non-stick pan over medium heat.
4. Pour in a thin ladle of batter, swirl to coat, and cook each crepe about 1 minute per side without browning.
5. Stack them as you go; you should get about 12 thin scrippelle.
6. Make the pallottine: mix the minced veal with a little grated pecorino, salt and pepper, then roll into tiny meatballs no bigger than a hazelnut.
7. Brown them gently in a splash of oil until just coloured.
8. Soften the chopped onion in olive oil, add the passata, a little water, salt and a basil leaf, and simmer 20 minutes.
9. Slide in the pallottine and simmer 10 minutes more until the sauce is rich.
10. Beat 2 eggs with the milk and a pinch of salt; this replaces béchamel and binds the layers.
11. Slice the hard-boiled eggs and dice the mozzarella.
12. Butter a baking dish and line the base and sides with scrippelle, letting them overhang the rim.
13. Spread a layer of pallottine and sauce, scatter mozzarella, slices of egg and grated pecorino, then spoon over a little of the egg-milk mixture.
14. Cover with a sheet of scrippelle and repeat the layers until everything is used.
15. Fold the overhanging scrippelle inward to seal the top, dust with pecorino and dot with a little butter.
16. Bake in a preheated oven at 180°C for 35–40 minutes until golden and set.
17. Let it rest 10 minutes before slicing so the layers hold.

Tips

• Keep the scrippelle as thin as possible; thick crepes make the timbale heavy and bread-like.
• The pallottine must be truly tiny — hazelnut-sized — so they nestle between layers rather than dominating them.
• Use a fresh, well-drained mozzarella (fior di latte) to avoid releasing too much water into the layers.