Do you have a dish that you used to love as a child but, since growing up, you just stopped eating? The I-am-not-going-to-cook-it-for-myself-alone kind of dish that you abandoned after moving out of your parents’ home?
Mine is La Bomba – Italian for “the bomb”. It is my family’s version of timballo, a traditional Italian pasta bake with different variations depending on the region. The bomb was my own comfort food as a child, when I used to do artistic gymnastics every afternoon until 9 p.m. and would get back home with only one thought in my mind: “What will there be for dinner?”. As I stepped into the house, I knew immediately whether it was going to be a disappointing fish fingers and salad kind of dinner, a ‘mum-did-not-have-time’ frozen pizza or my all-time favourite: the bomb. My father would cook it if he was back from one of his work trips or we had friends over. But some evenings, when nothing special had happened, he would still decide to surprise my brother and I. Those were the best nights.
Growing up, we have adapted the recipe a few times. This is my own personal version; I came up with it after turning vegetarian. It is a high calorie dish, but – I promise you – you won’t regret it. Just invite some friends over and make sure you have some time to spare. My favourite version is with Ziti, a long hollow kind of pasta. You can buy ziti in a specialised Italian delicatessen or online. Alternatively, you can use any other kind of pasta, but make sure it is hollow. I would suggest maccheroni (just don’t use penne – it’s the most boring type of pasta).
Ingredients
2 ready shortcrust pastry sheets
350g ziti pasta (or maccheroni)
2 aubergines
450g tomato passata
250g provolone cheese
250g béchamel
1 or 2 cloves of garlic
1 egg
1 to 2 tablespoons sunflower oil
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoon of salt
4 or 5 leaves of fresh basil
50g of Parmesan
Method
Wash the aubergines. Cut them into thick rounds. Then cut each round into four or five strips. Heat the sunflower oil in a saucepan and fry the aubergines until golden brown. Drain them and place them on some paper towel to absorb the excess oil.
In a large frying pan, heat the extra virgin olive oil. Add the fresh crushed garlic and let it fry for a couple of minutes. Be careful not to burn it. Add a splash of water if needed. Add the passata and lower the heat. Let it simmer for about ten minutes. Then add the fried aubergines, salt, pepper and fresh basil. Cook for another minute and set it aside.
Bring a large pot of water to boil. Add a fist of salt, then the ziti. The cooking time will vary depending on the pasta, just make sure you don’t overcook it as it will then go in the oven, too. When al dente drain the pasta. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Flour the kitchen surface and roll out the shortcrust pastry. Use one of them to cover the bottom of a large movable hinged mold. Sprinkle it with some oil.
Add the pasta to the passata and bechamel. Stir well. Add half of the pasta to the mold and cover it with half the cheese. Repeat the process, add the grated parmesan and cover the bomb with the rest of the shortcrust pastry. Brush the surface with some beaten egg. Bake it for about 30 minutes in a static oven – a bit less if you have a fan oven. Unmold the timballo and serve hot. Enjoy!
