Craving a better tumala

March 10, 2007 10:53 AM

Can you help me find or invent a non-standard recipe based on a tumala (a layered, baked, rice casserole that gets crunchy and golden on the outside)?

If you’ve seen Big Night, that starring dish was a tumala, but it doesn’t have to be difficult to make – I’ve made a relatively easy one from a magazine. Here’s the Cliffs Notes version:
--Line an ovenproof bowl with a cooled, rested mixture of rice, eggs, and romano cheese.
--Pack in a mixture of ziti, thick tomato or meat sauce, peas, and cheese, then press more of the rice mixture on top.
--Bake at 400 for about an hour, until golden.
--Unmold, slice, and top with more sauce and cheese to serve.

This comes out with an impressive, beautiful look and texture -- golden and crunchy on the outside -- but it’s bland. I tried adding olives, sun dried tomatoes, mushrooms, and mozzarella, and it still wasn’t that flavorful, plus those aren’t flavors I especially love (except the mushrooms).

I’m thinking I’d like to make a really different variation. I like creamy garlic or cheese sauces better than tomato ones, but it has to be thick, not watery, or the tumala falls apart when unmolded. I’m also thinking of ingredients like eggplant, onion, garlic, mushrooms, ground pork, spinach, and/or others. I don’t want to add much complexity – e.g., these two are too complicated for me. (I’ve also poked around a bit on epicurious, chowhound, and allrecipes.)

I’d love ideas for sauces that are thick enough, and for potential ingredients and whether and how to pre-cook them. Thanks in advance -- I’ll report results either this weekend or next.

posted by daisyace to food & drink (14 comments total)

I think you should think more "stufing" than "sauce".

I would guess any recipe for stuffed eggplant that you like would work. My favorite (which I can't find online now) is meatless and includes rice and cheese.
posted by MonkeySaltedNuts at 1:41 PM on March 10, 2007

Try googling recipes for timpano or timballo, the terms I've always heard used for this type of dish. Never heard it called a a tumala.
posted by poxuppit at 2:49 PM on March 10, 2007

Well, the one in the movie was not made with rice-- it was made with pasta sheets. I asked about this some time ago. Maybe that thread will help.
posted by oflinkey at 3:06 PM on March 10, 2007

Oh, sorry for posting again, but I hit post before I inished my thought: The pasta version might afford you some more wiggle room in terms of sauces, as it is less likely to leak/fall apart.
posted by oflinkey at 3:07 PM on March 10, 2007

My housemate suggests that for the recipe as is, try adding herbs/spices, or chopping up a chipotle in with the filling.

For a cheese sauce, make it with a roux (a thickener - arrowroot works) to make it more solid. You can also press ricotta a bit before using to make it a little less wet.
posted by Karmakaze at 4:25 PM on March 10, 2007

Thank you for the corrections poxuppit and oflinkey! They give me some better leads. I guess what I'm going for isn't what was in the movie, because I do want a crunchy rice crust like in the linked recipes, not a pasta one. As you concluded your thread, oflinkey, you intended to try making a sartu di riso. I know it was years ago, but do you remember if you did? And if so, whether it might fit the bill?
posted by daisyace at 4:51 PM on March 10, 2007

If it's the rice crust you're interested in, you might also look at recipes for arancini — Sicilian rice balls with different savory fillings. Some of the fillings might work well in a timballo too, and for that matter you might find you like arancini just as much.
posted by nebulawindphone at 7:43 AM on March 11, 2007

While busily multi-tasking for a meal one day, the ceramic dish intended for the potato bake met with disaster. I was pretty young so my immediate options were limited and bizarre. With a deep breath I settled on the ancient half a pressure cooker... and have not regretted it once. It went into the oven with sauce the consistancy of milk and cream, cooked until brown like usual but upon closer inspection was wonderously crunchy the whole way round. All that was usually shielded was now fierce competition for the title of best bit. No longer would I have to defend the prime land within my boarders from deliberate and calculated attacks by pirates from neighbouring slices.
posted by mu~ha~ha~ha~har at 11:38 AM on March 11, 2007

I made the sartu, and it probably would fit what you are looking for. My memories are hazy at best, but it was not super crunchy-- more like a really fried rice texture. But not crisp.
posted by oflinkey at 4:33 PM on March 11, 2007

Cajun quiche in a rice crust from Cooking Light made the jump from my "recipes to try" file to my "recipes to make again" file. There's no sauce, but you may be able to tweak some of the ingredients to more closely meet your specifications. Cooking Light recipes are usually pretty forgiving.

Dash some Tabasco on top for extra yumm!
posted by slenderloris at 1:16 PM on March 12, 2007

Thanks, slenderloris, that looks easy and good! I admit I'd probably use whole fat versions of the eggs, cheese, and/or yogurt. Does the rice crust get good and crusty?
posted by daisyace at 3:51 PM on March 12, 2007

Re: full-fat ingredients, I believe when I made it I used all full-fat stuff and it came out fine. I probably even used sour cream instead of yogurt. I tend to interpret the "light" part of Cooking Light pretty loosely :)

Yes, it got crusty and brown. Make sure to use a glass pie plate---I think that maximizes the browning.
posted by slenderloris at 10:18 AM on March 13, 2007

That's my kind of "light." Sounds like I've got a plan -- start with a not-so-light version of slenderloris's quiche, graduate to a sartu di riso, courtesy of oflinkey, then experiment with my tumala recipe. Then, rent Big Night again to refresh my memory on the actual starring dish. Thanks all!
posted by daisyace at 4:08 PM on March 13, 2007

An update, in case anyone checks back for the results I promised... I just tried the recipe slenderloris posted, but with lots of substitutions. Though I did cook it in a glass pie plate, it didn't come out crusty, probably due to one or more of my substitutions. Still, it was a very pleasant dish. I'm guessing that, even if anyone's around to read this, you won't be by the time I get to the sartu and tumala -- I think it may be a while. So, I don't plan to post any further updates. If that leaves anyone in suspense, my e-mail's in my profile. Thanks again!
posted by daisyace at 11:10 AM on March 18, 2007