Lasagne alla Bolognese

Ingredients

• For the sfoglia verde
• 200 g fresh spinach, blanched, squeezed completely dry, chopped very fine
• 400 g tipo 00 flour
• 3 eggs, whole, at room temperature
• For the ragù bolognese
• 500 g mixed minced beef and pork, coarse grind preferred
• 1 white onion, finely chopped
• 2 stalks celery, finely chopped
• 1 carrot, finely chopped
• 150 ml dry white wine
• 200 ml whole milk
• 400 g tinned whole plum tomatoes, passed through a mouli or crushed by hand
• 60 g unsalted butter
• For the besciamella
• 1 litre whole milk, warmed
• 80 g unsalted butter
• 80 g tipo 00 flour
• 1 tsp fine salt
• 1 pinch freshly grated nutmeg
• For assembly
• 150 g Parmigiano-Reggiano, freshly grated
• 20 g unsalted butter, for greasing the dish

Method

1. 1
   Make the sfoglia verde. Knead the blanched, thoroughly dried, finely chopped spinach into the egg-flour dough — the spinach replaces roughly 20% of the egg. Work the dough until smooth and elastic. Wrap and rest for 30 minutes at room temperature. Roll into sheets 1–2 mm thick and cut to fit the baking dish. The surface should be silky and the dough should spring back slowly when pressed.
2. 2
   Make the besciamella. Melt the butter in a heavy saucepan, add the flour, and stir constantly over medium heat for 2 minutes until the roux is pale and smells of cooked flour. Add the warm milk in a steady stream, whisking continuously, and cook until the sauce coats a spoon in a thin, pourable layer. Season with salt and nutmeg. The consistency must remain pourable at this stage — it will thicken further during baking.
3. 3
   Prepare or reheat the ragù bolognese. The sauce must be concentrated and not watery. Spread a small amount across a cold plate: no liquid should bleed from the edges within 30 seconds.
4. 4
   Pre-cook the pasta sheets. Working in batches, lower each sheet into a large pan of well-salted boiling water and cook for 30 seconds only. Transfer immediately to an ice bath, then lay flat, without overlapping, on damp clean towels. The sheets should be pliable, not fully cooked; they will finish in the oven.
5. 5
   This is where the dish lives or dies: assemble with absolute restraint, layer by layer. Butter the base of a ceramic or enamelled dish 6–8 cm deep. Spread a thin, even coat of besciamella across the bottom — this prevents adhesion. Lay a single layer of pasta sheets flat, without overlapping, to cover the base. Spread a thin, even layer of ragù. Spread a thin, even layer of besciamella over the ragù. Grate Parmigiano evenly over the besciamella. Repeat for 5–6 layers in total. Finish the final layer with besciamella and a generous, even grating of Parmigiano. Too much of any component at any layer and the balance of the completed dish collapses.
6. 6
   Bake at 180–190°C for 25–35 minutes. The dish is ready when the top is uniformly golden and the edges are visibly bubbling.
7. 7
   Remove from the oven and rest for 10–15 minutes before cutting. The layers must set sufficiently to hold their structure when portioned. A knife inserted and withdrawn should come away cleanly rather than dragging the interior into disorder.