These little tomato timbales are a different alternative to the usual tomato recipes. I found them in my mother's collection of La Cucina Italiana from the 1970s. Sformatini di pomodoro are baked in individual molds and turned out onto the plate. They are served warm or cold, which is what makes them work on a buffet table or beside barbecued meat.
The changes I made to the original recipe
I made two changes to the original recipe so they are easier to make.
I bake them in silicone molds rather than the creme caramel molds in the magazine, the same ones I use for my baked veggie frittata and my Romanesco timbales.
So I do not use a water bath.
The silicone molds do not need buttering, and I stand them on a muffin pan so they keep stable.
These tomato timbales can also be made the day before.
Timballo, timballetti, sformatini
In Italian we make a distinction that English does not.
A timballo is large, the size of a cake, like my rice and eggplant timballo or the tagliatelle pasta pie from Il Gattopardo.
The small ones baked in individual molds are timballetti, and they are also called tortine, flan or sformatini.
English uses timbale for both sizes, so on this site the small ones are timbales and the large one keeps its Italian name.
Ingredients
- Tomatoes: buy the same variety you would use for tomato sauce or for gazpacho. Salad tomatoes would be too watery.
- Onion, carrot and celery: the three vegetables of the soffritto.
- Olive oil: extra virgin.
- Bouillon cube: it gives more flavour, but you can use salt instead.
- Black pepper: whole peppercorns you grind yourself.
- Grana Padano or Parmigiano Reggiano: either one, they work the same way here. Buy a piece and grate it yourself.
- Butter and flour: for the béchamel.
- Milk: whole milk.
- Eggs: whole, and fresh.
- Nutmeg: whole, grated when you need it.
- Salt
- Cucumber: a thin slice for each timbale, optional, for decoration.
- Parsley: flat leaf, one leaf for each timbale.
Find the measurements in the recipe card.
Step by step instructions
- Stir fry the chopped onion, carrot and celery in the olive oil to make a soffritto.
- Add the sliced tomatoes, cover, and cook over medium heat for about 40 minutes, until the mixture is cooked down.
- Stir the crumbled bouillon cube and the black pepper into the tomatoes.
- Pass the mixture through a vegetable strainer into a bowl. I use the electric strainer attachment on my KitchenAid, and a manual one works fine.
- Melt the butter in a saucepan, add the flour and cook them together into a roux. Pour in the milk and keep stirring until the sauce thickens. The method is in my article on how to make a roux.
- Combine the béchamel with the vegetable purée, the grated cheese, salt and nutmeg.
- Whisk the whole eggs into the mixture one at a time, letting each one incorporate fully before adding the next.
- Stand the silicone molds on a muffin pan so they keep stable. Ladle the mixture in, filling them just over halfway, because they rise during baking.
- Bake at 200°C for about 45 minutes. The time depends on how liquid the mixture is, so pierce the timbales to check that they are done.
- Let the molds rest on a rack for 10 minutes.
- Turn each timbale out onto the platter, put a thin slice of cucumber on top and a parsley leaf over it, and serve warm, at room temperature or chilled.
How to serve them
Turn them out onto a large platter, each one with a thin slice of cucumber and a parsley leaf on top, and put them on the buffet table, where they hold well because they do not need to be eaten hot.
Alongside them I would serve my baked stuffed mushrooms with pistachios, my rissoles à la Dauphine and my savoury pancakes, all of which can be made in advance.
They also work as a side to barbecued meat, with a bistecca alla fiorentina, chicken spiedini on the barbecue, or a Brazilian picanha.
Questions about tomato timbales
Can tomato timbales be made ahead?
Yes, they can be made the day before.
How do I know when they are done?
The baking time depends on how liquid the mixture is. Pierce the timbales to check that they are cooked through.
Do they need a water bath?
The original recipe bakes them in a bain-marie in creme caramel molds. I bake them in silicone molds without one.
Do the silicone molds need buttering?
No. I stand them on a muffin pan so they keep stable.
Why fill the molds only halfway?
They rise during baking, so a mold filled to the top will overflow.
Can I use Parmigiano instead of Grana Padano?
Either one works here.
Can I leave out the bouillon cube?
The bouillon cube gives more flavour, but you can use salt instead.
Can they be served cold?
Yes. They can be served warm, at room temperature or chilled.
More buffet antipasti
If you are making any of these little tomato timbales, leave your comment below I would like to hear from you. You can find more delicious ideas if you FOLLOW ME on Facebook, YouTube, Instagram or sign up to my newsletter.
Little Tomato Timbales (Sformatini di Pomodoro)
Verified Culinary AuthorityIngredients
- 2 lb tomatoes sliced
- 1 onion chopped
- 1 carrot chopped
- 1 stalk celery half a stalk, chopped
- 4 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 bouillon cube crumbled (or salt instead)
- Black pepper a generous pinch, freshly ground
- ¾ cup Grana Padano or Parmigiano Reggiano grated
- 3 tablespoon butter
- 3 tablespoon flour
- ⅔ cup milk
- 4 eggs
- 1 pinch nutmeg
- Salt to taste
- Parsley leaves to decorate
- ½ Cucumber to decorate
Instructions
- Put the olive oil and the chopped onion, carrot and celery into a saucepan. Add the sliced tomatoes, cover, and cook over medium heat for about 40 minutes, until the mixture is cooked down and dry.
- Stir the crumbled bouillon cube and the black pepper into the tomatoes.
- Pass the mixture through a food mill fitted with a fine disc into a bowl.
- Make a béchamel with the butter, flour and milk, then combine it with the vegetable purée, the grated cheese, salt and nutmeg.
- Whisk the whole eggs into the warm mixture one at a time, letting each one incorporate fully before adding the next.
- Stand the silicone molds on a muffin pan so they keep stable. Ladle the mixture in, filling them just over halfway, because they rise during baking.
- Bake at 200°C for about 45 minutes. The time depends on how liquid the mixture is, so pierce a timbale to check that it is done.
- Let the molds rest on a rack for 10 minutes.
- Turn each timbale out onto the platter, put a parsley leaf on top, and serve warm, at room temperature or chilled.
Notes
- They can be made the day before.
- The bouillon cube gives more flavour, and you can use salt instead.
- Grana Padano and Parmigiano Reggiano both work here.
- Use the same tomatoes you would buy for tomato sauce or for gazpacho, not salad tomatoes.
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