Pasta Night

Bring a large pot of water to the boil and salt it well; it should taste pleasantly seasoned.

Trim the hard rind from the 150 g guanciale, then slice it about 5 mm (¼ in) thick and cut the slices into strips roughly 1 cm (⅜ in) wide. Keep the rind to flavour a soup.

Put the guanciale into a cold non-stick pan and set it over medium-high heat. Let it sizzle in its own fat for about 10 min, stirring now and then.

While the guanciale cooks, drop the 320 g spaghetti into the boiling water and cook until al dente, a minute short of the packet time.

Put the 6 egg yolks in a bowl, add the 50 g Pecorino Romano and a generous grinding of black pepper, and whisk until you have a thick, smooth cream.

Turn off the heat under the guanciale. Lift the pieces out with a slotted spoon into a small bowl, leaving all the fat behind. Add a ladle of pasta water to the fat in the pan and swirl.

Drain the spaghetti, or lift it with tongs, straight into the pan and toss it briefly in the fat and water so every strand is coated.

Move the pan off the heat entirely. Pour in the egg cream and toss quickly and constantly so the residual heat thickens it. Loosen with a little more pasta water if needed.

Stir the guanciale back through, toss once more, and serve at once with extra Pecorino Romano, to serve and a little more pepper on top.

Bring a large pot of water to the boil and season it well with salt, for the pasta water. Add the 400 g spaghetti and cook until al dente, usually 8 min to 10 min or as the packet says.

Meanwhile, toast the 5 ml black peppercorns in a dry frying pan over high heat, shaking the pan, until fragrant. Tip them into a mortar and crush them coarsely.

When the pasta is ready, scoop out a cupful of the starchy cooking water and set it aside. Drain the spaghetti and let it steam for 30 s.

Put the spaghetti in the frying pan over medium-low heat with a few spoonfuls of the pasta water and toss until every strand is coated.

Take the pan off the heat. Add the 200 g Pecorino Romano and the crushed pepper and stir and toss constantly, adding more hot pasta water a little at a time, until the cheese melts into a smooth sauce.

Serve at once on warm plates, finished with a little extra Pecorino Romano and black pepper, to serve.

Heat the 15 ml extra virgin olive oil in a heavy saucepan over medium heat, add the 150 g pancetta and spread it out with the back of a ladle. Let it brown for a few minutes, then add the 50 g carrot, 50 g celery and 50 g yellow onion and cook for 5 min to 6 min, stirring.

Add the 300 g coarsely ground beef, turn up the heat and break it up as it cooks. Let it brown slowly and thoroughly.

Pour in the 100 g red wine and let it bubble until it has evaporated completely.

Stir in the 300 g tomato passata and bring back to a simmer. Once it bubbles again, add a ladle or two of the hot vegetable broth, as needed.

Lower the heat to the gentlest simmer, set the lid ajar and cook for at least 2 h to 4 h, stirring from time to time and adding more broth whenever it looks dry. Season with fine salt and black pepper at the end.

Put the 250 g fresh spinach in a pan with a splash of water, cover and cook until completely wilted.

Drain, let it cool, then squeeze out as much water as you can with your hands. Blend to a smooth purée; you should have about 100 g squeezed spinach purée.

Heap the 350 g remilled durum wheat semolina (semola rimacinata) and 150 g 00 flour on a board and make a wide well in the middle. Put the spinach purée, the 2 eggs and the 3 egg yolks into the well.

With a fork, beat the eggs and spinach together in the centre, drawing in flour from the inside wall a little at a time so the liquid never breaks out. When it gets too stiff for the fork, knead by hand.

Wrap the dough tightly in plastic wrap and rest it at room temperature for 30 min. Make the béchamel meanwhile.

Cut off a piece of dough and keep the rest covered. Flatten it with a little semolina, for dusting, then pass it through the pasta machine, starting at the widest setting. Fold it and roll again a few times, then thin it notch by notch until it is about 0.5 mm (0.02 in), nearly see-through.

Lay the sheets on the board and cut them into large rectangles about 30 cm (11 ¾ in) by 20 cm (7 ¾ in), to fit your dish. Repeat with the remaining dough.

Bring a large pot of water to the boil and season it with salt, for the cooking water. Cook the sheets one at a time for 30 s to 40 s, lift them out with a slotted spoon and lay them side by side, not overlapping, on a cloth-lined tray. Pat dry.

Warm the 1 l whole milk in a saucepan until steaming but not boiling.

In another pan melt the 70 g butter, tip in the 70 g 00 flour all at once and stir over medium-low heat for a couple of minutes.

Pour in the hot milk in three additions, whisking well after each. Season with fine salt, a pinch and nutmeg and keep whisking over low heat until creamy.

Transfer to a bowl and press plastic wrap onto the surface so no skin forms.

Heat the oven to 170 °C (no fan).

Grease the dish with some of the butter, for the dish and for dotting, then spread a thin layer of béchamel and a thin layer of ragù over the bottom.

Lay in a sheet of pasta, then add a layer of béchamel, a layer of ragù and a good scattering of 270 g Parmigiano Reggiano. Repeat until you have five layers of pasta.

Cover the last sheet completely with ragù, sprinkle with the remaining cheese and dot with small pieces of butter.

Bake for 40 min.

Let the lasagne rest for 15 min before cutting so the layers set.

Cover the 200 g dried borlotti beans with plenty of cold water, for soaking and cooking and leave them to soak overnight.

Drain and rinse the beans, put them in a saucepan with the 2 leaves bay leaves, cover generously with fresh cold water and boil gently for about 1 h 20 min. Keep them in their cooking water.

Heat the 10 g extra virgin olive oil in a large pot, add the 1 clove garlic, 30 g onion, 30 g celery and 30 g carrot and fry gently for about 5 min.

Add the 80 g prosciutto crudo and 80 g lardo (cured pork back fat) and cook for a couple of minutes more.

Lift the beans out of their pot with a slotted spoon and add them to the soffritto. Add one ladle of the bean cooking water and keep the rest hot.

Stir in the 250 g tomato passata, season moderately with fine salt and some black pepper, and simmer over medium heat for 20 min.

Scoop two ladles of the soup into a jug and blend them to a smooth cream with a stick blender. Set aside.

Add the 320 g ditaloni rigati or other short soup pasta straight to the pot, pour in enough of the hot bean water to cover, and cook over medium heat, stirring often so it does not catch, until al dente. Add more bean water if it gets too thick.

Stir in the blended cream and the chopped 3 sprigs rosemary, turn off the heat, cover and leave to rest for 3 min. Serve with a final grinding of pepper.