Lasagne alla Bolognese, · 4 servings

Heat the 7.5 ml extra virgin olive oil in a heavy saucepan over medium heat, add the 75 g pancetta and spread it out with the back of a ladle. Let it brown for a few minutes, then add the 25 g carrot, 25 g celery and 25 g yellow onion and cook for 5 min to 6 min, stirring.

Add the 150 g coarsely ground beef, turn up the heat and break it up as it cooks. Let it brown slowly and thoroughly.

Pour in the 50 g red wine and let it bubble until it has evaporated completely.

Stir in the 150 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 125 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 50 g squeezed spinach purée.

Heap the 175 g remilled durum wheat semolina (semola rimacinata) and 75 g 00 flour on a board and make a wide well in the middle. Put the spinach purée, the 1 egg and the 1 ½ 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 500 ml whole milk in a saucepan until steaming but not boiling.

In another pan melt the 35 g butter, tip in the 35 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 135 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.