Timpana

Timpana is Malta's baked pasta pie. Macaroni is mixed with a sauce of minced meat, onion and tomato, bound with beaten egg and grated cheese, then enclosed in pastry and baked until the crust is golden and the inside has set. Visit Malta calls it a very special rich pasta baked in a pastry case, and it sits in the same family as imqarrun (baked macaroni without the pastry) and ross il-forn (baked rice).

It is a festive dish. Visit Malta notes that special occasions call for serious dishes like baked rice, baked macaroni or timpana, often followed by rabbit or meat with Maltese potatoes and vegetables. A slice of timpana can therefore be served before a meat course at a special family meal. It is made in large trays, cut into squares and eaten warm, and leftovers are good cold the next day.

Where to try it

• At traditional Maltese restaurants in Valletta and the Three Cities.
• From some bakeries and snack bars, sold by the slice.
• At family celebrations and feast days, where it may precede a meat course.

Share a portion if a rabbit or meat main is coming next. Timpana is mild and comforting, so it suits children and cautious eaters. If you see imqarrun on the menu instead, it is the same idea without the pastry case.