Lasagna Bolognese

Ingredients for six people:

For the pasta dough: 350g white flour; 150g durum wheat flour: 5 whole eggs; 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil.

For the ragù: 700g ground beef; 300g ground pork; 1 medium-sized carrot; 2 celery sticks; 1 medium-sized onion; bunch of herbs (laurel, rosemary, sage and dried mushrooms); 1 garlic clove; 1 tablespoon tomato paste; 3 tablespoons tomato purée; 1 glass of milk; 1 glass dry red wine; 1 demitasse cup of extra-virgin olive oil; 1 cup of hot broth; salt and pepper.

For the béchamel sauce: 1 liter whole milk; 40g butter; 70g plain flour; nutmeg; salt.

For topping: 150g grated Parmigiano; knob of butter (1.5 tablespoons)

Directions:

Preparing the ragù: finely chop the onion, celery and carrot and place them all in a pot (preferably terracotta) with the oil and a little hot broth and then stew for around 20 minutes, adding more broth when necessary.

Prepare the herbs by tying them together with kitchen string together with 2-3 pieces of dried mushrooms rolled up in gauze.

Brown the ground meat in a hot, large, non-stick pan. Add the wine and let it evaporate before scooping the meat out and putting in the pot with the vegetables. Deglaze the bottom of the pan with a glass of broth or hot water to make a juice.

Add the tomato paste, purée, herbs and the meat juice to the pot, salt to taste and then let simmer for around three hours, adding the glass of milk 30 minutes before it is done. They say that a ragù is done when you can stand a spoon up in it.

While the ragù is cooking prepare the béchamel sauce by boiling the milk together with the salt. In a separate pan make a roux with the butter and flour and then trickle in the milk, stirring it to make sure no lumps are formed. Allow it to thicken while stirring and at the end add the nutmeg. Should any lumps form you can eliminate them by using an immersion blender. Cover with plastic seal wrap.

Preparing the pasta dough: Sift the flours into a mound and at the center place the egg and the EVOO. Mix first with a fork and then with your hands until it is soft and homogenous.

Let the dough sit under a bowl for 30 minutes. Flatten the dough with a rolling pin or especially-designed machine until it is very thin. Cut the dough into rather large rectangles.

Boil the rectangles in salted water with a trickle of oil for 2-3 minutes then take them out carefully using a skimmer and dip into cold, salted water. Drain and let them dry on a clean dish towel.

In a baking pan put a layer of béchamel on the bottom followed by a layer of dough and then a layer of ragù and on top sprinkle some Parmigiano. Repeat this procedure until you have the traditional seven layers. Cover the last layer with ragù, béchamel, Parmigiano and flakes of butter.

Bake in an oven preheated to 180°C for around 30 minutes, the first 20 minutes covered by aluminum foil and the last 10 without in order to brown the top