I have a younger sister who can seriously cook. Unlike myself, who left Italy at age 19, Donatella spent considerable time next to our mother during her youth, and it is evident in the way she approaches food in totality. She applies nutrition fundamentals, does not eat animal fats, and watches her stylish modeling figure in every aspect of her daily routine. Her obsession with everyday shopping forces her husband to stop and pick up pre-ordered fresh ingredients religiously. There is always a filled grocery bag arriving at the garden’s back door with the most delicate fish, meats, produce, fruit, bread, and sweets. Needless to say that when I go home to Abruzzo, she’s always ready to indulge me with some of the foods our mother made for us while growing up. Christmas 2020 is different and indeed prohibitive for the return home. While confined here, I am subliminally smelling the fragrance of the timballo coming out of her narrow but essential kitchen space.
Her career has very little to do with cooking. Donatella’s culinary creativity is related to a necessity to cook for my brother-in-law, Marco, a refined well-traveled palate that demands the very best and then cooks for all of us when we get home. Educated as a doctor in languages and literature with a solid externship at Brown University, Donatella’s visualizes cooking as a shareable hobby for pure unselfish pleasure. Her cooking’s simplicity correlates to the unwritten philosophy of Italian cuisine: freshness, quality, uncomplicated. Her fresh pasta with local seafood is another standout, but we’ll cover the recipe in another session. For now, you’ll get just a pic.
Donatella’s fresh tagliatelle with seafood guazzetto sauce
In this column, I am sharing the recipe for her majestic timballo. In the Abruzzo region, timballo appears on the year’s glorious days, especially on the holidays. The ladies in my town of Mosciano Sant’Angelo rival in the exquisite challenge, and Donatella’s is at the top of the list. Sounds bias?. Well, it is true.
Before I begin, just a reminder that it would be gastronomically illegal to define it as a Lasagna. Layers of crepes (also called “scrippelle” in dialect) filled with tomato sauce, tiny meatballs, and other optional stuff. It all happens in the city of Teramo and surrounding towns. Some say that the French discovered the “scrippella” in Teramo during their Italian invasions. Therefore, the Teramo-style timballo would be distantly related to the “crepes” (The French use crepes in sweet applications, while Italians tend toward savory). Still, its preparation and conception make it a unique first course among Abruzzo’s traditional dishes, rarely found outside its boundaries.
