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Timbal of Vegetable Balls, Milanaise Style

A cabbage leaf-wrapped timbal filled with mutton and pork vegetable balls, baked with rice, Parmesan, and tomato sauce.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 13 ingredients
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Why it works: Parsley and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 34,122 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Timbal of Vegetable Balls, Milanaise Style

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.

Prepare the meat balls

  1. Prepare cabbage leaves as in the previous recipe.

  2. In a bowl, combine mutton, grated pork, bread crumbs, onion, mushrooms, parsley, salt, and pepper. Add eggs and mix well.

  3. Roll mixture into walnut-sized balls.

  4. Cover the balls with cabbage leaves and arrange them in a flat saucepan in 4 to 6 layers, seasoning each layer.

  5. Moisten with broth to cover and place a lid on the pan.

  6. Cook on the stove until the broth is reduced and the balls are cooked through.

Assemble the timbal

  1. Prepare a firmer rice risotto, adding butter and Parmesan cheese.

  2. Butter a timbal mold and line it with cabbage leaves, then add a layer of rice around the sides and bottom.

  3. Place a layer of the balls in the mold, sprinkle with Parmesan and reduced tomato sauce, and repeat until full.

  4. Cover with rice and cabbage leaves, then top with thin slices of fat pork.

Bake and serve

  1. Bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) for 30 minutes.

  2. Remove from the oven, take off the pork, and invert the mold to drain moisture.

  3. Serve on a dish and pour over reduced Madeira wine sauce flavored with essence of mushrooms.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  2. Pork + mushroomtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,875 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-methoxy-4-propylphenol (allspice, anise).

  3. Onion + parsleytop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together25,843 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  4. Bread + mushroomtop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,536 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  5. Onion + mushroomtop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together10,626 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Mutton fillet
Provides the main meaty body and savory flavor of the balls.
Fresh fat pork
Adds fat and moisture so the balls stay juicy during cooking.
Eggs
Bind the mixture so the balls hold their shape when cooked.
Bread crumbs
Absorb juices and help keep the meat mixture tender and light.
Butter
Adds richness and fat to the risotto, giving it a smooth texture.
Parmesan cheese
Adds salty, savory flavor and browning to the layers.

The step that matters

Invert the mold to drain moisture. Moisture released during baking can make the timbal soggy or cause it to collapse, so draining before unmolding helps it hold its shape.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (mutton, pork, bread, mushroom, parsley, pepper, egg):

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Shallotfits better
  3. Asparagusfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against mutton, pork, bread, mushroom, parsley, pepper, egg. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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