I went to see tUnE-yArDs on Monday night with some friends, and as always we wanted to cook a meal that somehow related to the show we were heading to. Sometimes this is hard to do, but other times it seems to come naturally. Finding culinary inspiration in Merrill's lyrics seemed like it would be tough, but my sister knew what she wanted to make without hesitation. "How about something layered, because of all the vocal and instrument layering in the music?" From there we worked together to come up with this deep, colorful, and multi-flavored lasagna version of a timpano. If you are using words like deep, colorful, and multi-flavored to describe something inspired by tUnE-yArDs, you already know you got it right!
Start by making a lasagna crust. This is actually the hardest part of the recipe. Believe it or not, my sister and I had this thing in the oven in less than 45 minutes(Including making all 3 sauces from scratch). During this portion of making it though, I was getting really worried. Some naysayers in the room didn't help.
Finally got it together.
Now it's easy, just start building the layers!
Alfredo sauce with some salami goes first.
After 3 alfredo layers, I switched to pesto.
A cheese only layer, just for fun.
Tomato sauce is last.
It's important to press things down as you go.
In my opinion, it can't be lasagna without at least a little ricotta!
I painted on some alfredo at the end as a glue.
All sealed up.
After baking.
The flip is always a scary moment.
Unveiling.
A thing of beauty.
Cutting is another tense event.
Glorious!
I still can't believe how great this came out and how awesome it actually tasted!
Keep it somewhat dry when building it so it holds it's shape after cooking. We saved some sauce to serve on the side but it honestly didn't really even need it!
I totally meant to make it look like the album cover. I swear!
The tUnE-yArDs show was amazing! We were all super impressed, even after watching many live videos of her and knowing what to expect. If you've never heard of tUnE-yArDs, and you are wondering what to think of all this weird capitalization, watch these videos and you might understand a little better. The first one is the awesome music video for "Bizness"
And the next one is an example of how cool the show was! Notice all the live vocal and drum looping! Or layering if you will.
I am packing up and heading on a bit of a vacation today and I wont be back until late next week, so I have decided to not post all next week! I need a break! Don't forget about me, I will be back with some awesome recipes before you know it.
Need more timpano? I have made timpano twice before.
Lasagna timpano starts with a basic pesto, meaty tomato sauce, and alfredo. After you have those 3 things, you cook the lasagna (try and undercook it a bit) and build the thing. Use a heavy oven safe bowl and spray it down first. The toughest part is building the crust, but after you have that, it's easy to make the layers. Mine started with 3 alfredo layers (2 of which included salami), 2 pesto layers, a cheese layer(mozz, prov, and parm), 3 red sauce layers (2 of which included ricotta), and a top layer of alfredo, with extra cheese randomly in various other layers. Keep everything on the dry side so it doesnt fall apart when you flip it, but reserve some red sauce to serve on the side after you cut it up. Bake at 350 for about an hour and 15 minutes, and let it sit for AT LEAST 20 minutes before flipping and cutting.
They sounded so good live. Bang Bang!
LaYeReD tUnEpAnO... mmmmmmmmmm. So good.
Was I being a naysayer? Noooooooo...
I first learned about timpano from "Big Night." Apparently they used a Tucci family recipe for the movie. Yours is absolutely gorgeous; and you make it look so easy!
this looks fantastic!
Thanks for the tip on tUneE-YaRdS. Hadn't heard of them, but sounds great.
wow this is AMAZING i am so impressed, and jealous and i didn't eat it
a beauty- never seen it this way and you are a genius!
You need to start a mail order timpano business.
So awesome.
That is gorgeous! I love the music theme you've got going lately. As for this dish, I love the little crunchy bits on the edge of a lasagna, so this would be right up my alley. I would need to serve this on top of a little bit of sauce though, just for the looks of not putting it on a bare plate. Going to try this at home...
That is gorgeous. I love the crunchy bits on the edges of a lasagna, so this would be right up my alley. I also love the food theme you have going lately. I'm going to try this at home, but I'm going to serve it on the top of a little dollop of sauce, not the bare plate. Just for looks. My recent post: http://ourwaytoeat.com/2011/05/24/gates-b-b-q-kbabs/
Oh, and by food theme, I meant that your food has a music theme. Always good to proofread, eh?
What an idea. wow.
Out of this world idea! Love it!
Holy Hell - this is awesome. I want to make this NOW.
This looks so tasty! It is definitely going on my 'to make' list
This looks amazing! I have never seen or tried this before. The Italian places in my area just sells all the basic pasta stuff and it's nice to see something new. I definitely cannot wait to try this.
Oh and on another note, I LOVE the name of your website. Very funny LOL!
It looks Magical. Initially i thought its too muh of Pasta, then when i saw the layers it was amazing.. My mouth is simply watering... A job well done :)
Super Extraordinaire! I never see that.
I will try it.
WOW! that looks so delicious!! I'm gonna try that and impress my wife tomorrow...thanks! your a genius.
Fantastic recipe! It looks amazing, can't wait to try it. I am a little afraid of "the flip" so I think I will use a springform pan to ensure flip success!!
Thank you thank you!
thank you thank you SO much for introducing me to this amazing artist! I became a fan instantly, oh and by the way the food looks amazing too. But the music is what I really connected to :)
Great job. I loved the pictures. This is a great way to share a recipe.
I love tUnE-yArDs and lasagne so this is perfect! Very impressed Mr. Beard! Thanks for a great post I am going to try this!
I'm so glad I came across your blog today. I have a lot of catching up to do. :) Your timpano recipes really caught my eye. I've always wanted to make one but I never seem to remember to. This was a great reminder. I featured this post over at my blog today. Thank you so much for the recipe :)
I'm making this dish as we speak! I decided against the salami (just cause i don't particularly care for it) but everything else is layered and in the over as i write this! I think it will be fantastic!!!
There is now officially a funny story to go along with this dish. I had just taken the dish out of the oven to settle for 20minutes when the power in my neighborhood went out! lmao Thankfully it was done and the flip went without any issues. My brothers loved it, (which isn't an easy thing to accomplish) and I will definitely be making this again, perhaps next time WITH the salami. Thanks a bunch for this interesting dinner. It's going in my cook book as "Lasagna-Timpano' ;P Can't wait to try some of your other recipes.
I just put it in the oven right now! :D except I didn't have a bowl but a squarish deep dish :o I don't think I'll risk flopping it out of there :o haha I will master this technique!
at what temperature and for how long did u bake it ? this looks sooo good !!
I am new here, where exactly is the written recipe for this fabulous creation.
Wow! This is a killer idea and recipe - I emailed it to my mom who is a lasagna aficionado!
holy crap i have been blown away twice! first of all, love the blog, like a lot! and also tUnE yArDs...i fell out of my chair, brilliance all around!
This is so creative! I love the fact you can slice it like a wedge of cake!!!
I love recipes with pictures :D
This looks amazing! It looks like a lasagna bundt cake:) Love it!
SO COOL! I love this idea, it's so pretty! :)
That is absolutely stunning--very impressive.
so this recipe is a lot easier to make with your own pasta dough rather than trying to patch together lasagna noodles. Also the hard boiled eggs is what really makes the timpano totally awesome. sorry to be a naysayer.
Looks incredible, Lasagne is my favorite food and I have heard of spaghetti pie but this is a whole new level of awesome. Great photo's capturing the process too.
Can everyone please take this survey to help me with a research paper I'm doing for my english class? I REALLY appreciate it! :)
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You've introduced me to new music and new cuisine, both of which seem delightful. You win all of the points! And I love your hobby of pairing good food and good music as a regular activity. All of the points. All of them. Seriously. :) I'd love to learn of some of your other culinary-concert-combos. I just stumbled upon this page, but I think I may just have to peruse the rest of your site. Top notch, good sir. ;)
Made this last night with my roommates and we had a great time making it and an even better time eating it. We're a mostly veg household so we got creative with the layers - zucchini/garlic/onion - fire roasted tomatoes/pesto - butternut squash/pumpkin/gouda - broccoli/ricotta. We went with an alfredo sauce and used a lot of different cheeses in each of the layers. The hardest part is definitely layering the initial noodles, it was a two person job. Overall, it was delicious! Thanks for the inspiration, I'll definitely make again.
My family and I all loved this - a little salty with the salami, might be better to use browned italian bulk instead of dry salami. The noodle crust was a booger but got it to work perfect - cooked for about 45 minutes at 400 degrees in a 3QT. Great recipe - THANK YOU!
Oh my goodness...this looks so good!
mmmm this dish looks so yummy, it's so easy to make & it looks beautiful too, thanks for sharing :)
Oh man, this looks delicious!!! Can't wait to try it, thanks for sharing, stumbled...
Oh. My. Want.
Its looks a bit odd but I am sure its pretty tasty
Looks delicious! I'll tru the recipe today...thanks for sharing!
Wooooooooow! Thanks to the amazingness that is stumble upon, I came across your site and this recipie. Lemme tell ya... I'm ginormously pregnant (36 weeks to be exact) and just forwarded this to my husband in a frantic email about how we MUST make this for dinner tonight. His reply back? "Dude, calm down." I CAN'T! I'm caught in a tizzy and all I want to do is leave work and make this right now. I will from here on out be a follower of your blog as you are now my newest pregnancy craving.
Also found your blog today through Stumble... I've been flirting with the idea of making timpano for a looong time, most versions I've seen are boring in comparison to this one you made
loved the different colors and layers, great job!
Now, obviously the calories are compressed in the timpano-shape and reduced to what? Next to nothing, right? ;-)
I normally can't stand anything remotely related to pasta, but holy crap that looks delicious. And dude, great band, too! Cool how you based it off the music- you're a natural artist working with the best medium! Neat stuff!
It looks so good...yummy, I am going to try it for sure!
Looks amazing. Can't wait to give this a go vegetarian style - maybe some grilled eggplant?
yummy yummy! I love it.I so love Lasagna:)
Made an almost version of this (removed the salami, added minced mushrooms) and it was awesome. Thanks :)
Ok, so I've been asked by my college-freshman daughter to make this while she's home for turkey day. She stumbled upon the recipe and in what was clearly a munch moment, forwarded the link to me. Been comparing Mario's and " Big Night"s... Questions: won't the noodles burn without something other than olive oil to coat the dish?
I've got a 3 qt. Stainless steel bowl, actually a kitchen-aid mixer bowl. I just don't see how this thing won't burn on the outside...is there a better vessel? What about a dutch oven, like a le creuset?
at what temperature and how long do you cook this?
I am making this for christmas. So yum + Tune Yards, great combo!
I think i'm hungry already! looks yummy. Thx for it!
I'm bookmarking this for the next time I want to make lasagna. I think the kids will love it.
What a brilliant lasagna dish, this looks amazing!! Great blog you have, new follower! :)
This is so fun! I have never seen a lasagna made like this before, I can't wait to try it!!!
Oh yum! I think I'll be making this with my kids!
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WOW, this looks so very good. What a great idea, I can not wait to try this myself. Kudos for a beautiful dish.
Good!!!!!
This satisfies my need to want to make something very time consuming and visually appealing. Thanks for the inspiration!
Wow. I love all the creative ways you can make lasagna. This looks great!!
very nice and great technique!
i'm new to this site of yours and it looks promising! will be back again :)
This looks absolutely amazing! Bookmarking it so I can come back and try the recipe. Great idea!
Terrible! This is not a lasagna, but a lethal weapon for the liver. (sorry, I'm Italian)