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image of vincisgrassi, a rustic lasagne from Italy's Marche region, shot from side on showing all the layers of the lasagne
5 from 1 vote

Vincisgrassi

A delicious ragu with pasta sheets from Le Marche that will beat any lasagne.

Ingredients

Ragù Sauce

  • extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 large onion finely chopped
  • 2 medium carrots finely chopped
  • 2 celery stalks finely chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 100 grams prosciutto (or other smoked ham) chopped
  • 250 grams beef chuck chopped into small pieces
  • 250 grams pork shoulder chopped into small pieces
  • 1 tablespoon tomato paste
  • 1 L tomato puree
  • 300 ml chicken stock
  • salt
  • 3 cloves
  • ½ tsp nutmeg freshly grated
  • 125 ml white wine
  • 400 grams chicken giblets (chicken hearts. livers, gizzards) roughly chopped

Bechamel Sauce

  • 50 grams butter
  • 50 grams flour
  • 500 ml milk
  • salt nutmeg
  • Plus
  • 500 grams fresh lasagna sheets

Pasta

  • 500 grams dried pasta sheets (or enough to make 7 layers)
  • 150 grams parmesan cheese grated

Instructions

Prepare the Ragù

  • Pre-heat the oven to 180°C
  • Heat a few tbsp of extra virgin olive oil in a cast iron pan. Add the onion, celery carrot and garlic and sauté for 8-10 minutes until the vegetables are very soft.
  • Raise the heat to medium then add the chopped pork, beef and prosciutto and cook until the meat has browned.
  • Add the white wine and the tomato paste to the pan, stir well and cook until the wine has mostly evaporated.
  • Add a tsp of salt, the passata, chicken stock, cloves and nutmeg and bring to a gentle simmer.
  • Cover with a lid but and cook slowly onion the oven for 1.5 hours, stirring occasionally.
  • Add the chopped chicken giblets to the pan and cook in the oven for another 30 minutes.

Bechamel Sauce

  • Melt the butter in a small pan then stir in the flour until a roux is formed.
  • Add a little milk and stir continuously until the roux has absorbed the milk. Add a little more milk and stir again until absorbed. Continue until half the milk has been incorporated into the roux.
  • Add the rest of the milk and a pinch of salt and a pinch of grated nutmeg then stir continuously for about 5 minutes or until the sauce thickens.

Pasta Sheets

  • Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil, and carefully add the pasta sheets.
  • Boil the pasta sheets for 2-3 minutes each, the drain, and run under cold water to stop the cooking process.
  • Put the pasta sheets on a clean tea towel to remove all excess moisture.

Assemble the Vincisgrassi

  • Add a very thin layer of sauce to the bottom of casserole dish and cover with pasta sheets.
  • Add a layer of meat and then some béchamel sauce, followed my another pasta layer.
  • Continue until you have 7 pasta layers in total. Make sure the top layer of pasta overhangs the edges so you get an extra crispy pasta crust.
  • Cover with a thin layer of béchamel sauce and the grated cheese

Bake

  • Place the casserole dish in the oven and bake at 180°C for 30 minutes, or until the cheese has melted and browned and the overhanging pasta sheets have gone crunchy. Then serve.