P
Italian · Marche
Vincisgrassi Marchigiani con Ragù Bianco e Rigaglie
The Marche's defining baked pasta — predating and distinct from Emilian lasagne. Vincisgrassi uses fresh pasta sheets made with wine (Marsala or Vino Cotto) worked into the dough, giving subtle sweetness and depth. The ragù is bianco (no tomato): chicken and veal offal (livers, hearts, combs) finely chopped and braised with a soffritto, then bound with béchamel and a small amount of truffles or dried porcini. Layers of pasta, ragù bianco and béchamel are assembled in a buttered baking dish; the surface is topped with béchamel, grated Parmigiano and dots of butter. Baked at 180°C for 35–40 minutes until the surface is deeply golden and the interior bubbling.
I
The Market List
The benchmark for each ingredient, and who stocks it near you. Tap a stockist to go straight to the product.
For the pasta dough
400 g
00 flour
Your own market
4
eggs
Your own market
80 ml
Marsala or Vino Cotto
fully worked into the dough
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
For the ragù bianco
250 g
chicken livers
finely chopped, not minced
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
150 g
chicken hearts
finely chopped, not minced
Origin · PeruNot yet stocked in British Columbia
100 g
chicken combs (creste)
finely chopped, not minced
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
1
white onion
finely diced, for soffritto
Your own market
2
celery stalks
finely diced, for soffritto
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
1
carrot
finely diced, for soffritto
Your own market
40 g
dried porcini
soaked and finely chopped; or black truffle shavings when in season
Origin · ItalyBosa Foods · Vancouver →
60 ml
dry white wine
for braising the offal
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
For the béchamel
1 litre
whole milk
warmed
Your own market
80 g
unsalted butter
Your own market
80 g
00 flour
Your own market
1 tsp
fine salt
Your own market
1 pinch
freshly grated nutmeg
Your own market
For assembly
30 g
unsalted butter
for greasing the dish and dotting the surface
Your own market
80 g
Parmigiano Reggiano
finely grated
Your own market
Each tap is counted, so the stockist sees the demand Provenance sends them.
II
The Method
1
Mound the flour on a work surface, break the eggs into the centre, add the Marsala or Vino Cotto, and work everything together with a fork and then the heel of the hand until a cohesive dough forms. Knead firmly for 10 minutes, so the wine is absorbed completely and its alcohol softens the gluten rather than escaping as sharpness in the finished pasta. The dough is ready when it is smooth, elastic and carries no trace of raw alcohol on the nose.
From the canon — Marsala is Sicily's great fortified wine—a complex, amber-to-mahogany wine produced in the province of Trapani, around the city of Marsala, using a solera-st… Marsala →
2
Shape the dough into a disc, wrap tightly and rest at room temperature for 30 minutes, so the gluten relaxes and the sheet will roll without springing back. After resting, divide into manageable portions and roll each through a pasta machine to under 1 mm — the thinnest setting on most machines — cutting into sheets sized to the baking dish. The sheets should be almost translucent when held to the light.
3
Sweat the soffritto — onion, celery and carrot — in a wide pan over a low flame until soft and lightly golden, so its sweetness mellows and the rawness that would otherwise dominate the ragù cooks away. Add all finely chopped rigaglie (livers, hearts, combs) and raise the heat to medium, stirring steadily for 3–4 minutes until the offal loses its raw colour on all sides.
4
Add the soaked, chopped dried porcini, then deglaze with dry white wine and allow the liquid to reduce completely, so the concentrated mushroom depth is drawn into the offal rather than sitting as a thin, watery layer around it. Continue to braise over a low heat, stirring occasionally, until the ragù bianco is fully cooked, cohesive and dry — no pooling liquid remains in the pan — because insufficient reduction will steam the layers during baking, producing a sodden interior rather than the firm, sliceable structure vincisgrassi demands. This is where the dish lives or dies: the ragù should hold its shape when a spoon is dragged across the base of the pan.
5
Make the béchamel: melt the butter in a heavy saucepan, whisk in the flour and cook the roux for 2 minutes over a moderate heat, so the raw flour taste cooks out and the sauce will not taste chalky between the layers. Add the warmed milk in a steady stream, whisking constantly, then continue to cook and stir until the sauce is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon and falls in a slow, heavy ribbon. Season with salt and nutmeg.
From the canon — The Italian besciamella — identical in principle to the French béchamel but used in different contexts (lasagna, baked pasta, crespelle) — demonstrates how a… Béchamel (Besciamella): The Italian Version →
6
Butter a deep baking dish generously, spread a thin layer of béchamel across the base so the first pasta sheet does not grip and tear on serving, then lay the first sheet over it. Spread a layer of ragù bianco, then a layer of béchamel, and repeat — pasta, ragù, béchamel — for at least six layers in total, finishing with a layer of béchamel only across the surface so the top seals and will colour evenly. Scatter the grated Parmigiano evenly over the top and dot with butter.
7
Bake at 180 °C for 35–40 minutes, long enough for the layers to knit and set rather than merely heat through. The vincisgrassi is ready when the surface is deeply and evenly golden — not merely pale or spotted — and the interior is audibly bubbling at the sides of the dish.
8
Remove from the oven and rest, uncovered, for 20 minutes before cutting, so the layers firm and bind and a knife drawn through the dish produces clean, stable portions without sliding. When pressed lightly at the centre, the layers should feel set and resist the finger.
III
Quality Hierarchy
01
Reserve — Fresh Urbino black truffle shaved into the ragù layer in season; pasta made with aged Vino Cotto; rigaglie sourced from a single free-range bird; Parmigiano Reggiano aged 36 months or more.
02
Estate — Good-quality dried porcini in place of truffle; Marsala Superiore in the dough; mixed rigaglie from a reputable butcher; Parmigiano Reggiano aged 24 months.
03
Market — Standard dried porcini; medium-dry Marsala; chicken livers and hearts from a supermarket butcher counter; standard Parmigiano Reggiano.
04
House — Dried porcini from a packet; any dry fortified wine in the pasta dough; chicken livers only (hearts and combs omitted); pre-grated Parmigiano — the dish remains recognisable but loses textural complexity and the depth of the offal ragù.
IV
Sensory Tests
◇Smell. The finished dough carries no trace of raw alcohol — the wine is fully absorbed and only its sweetness and depth remain.
◇Sight. The ragù bianco holds its shape when a spoon is dragged across the pan base — no liquid pools around the offal.
◇Sight. The baked surface is deeply and evenly golden across its full extent, not pale at the centre.
◇Sound. The interior is audibly bubbling at the sides of the dish during the final minutes of baking.
◇Touch. After the 20-minute rest, light finger pressure at the centre meets firm resistance — the layers have set and will portion cleanly.
◇Where it lives or dies. The ragù bianco must be fully reduced and dry before layering — excess moisture steams rather than bakes the vincisgrassi, and no amount of oven time will recover a sodden interior.
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VI
What to Pour
The pairing
Fortified wine
From British Columbia
2023 seven stars VEGA
Township 7 Vineyards & Winery · Naramata Bench
Township 7 Vineyards & Winery · Penticton →Sparkling wine
Without alcohol
No pour without alcohol holds against this yet.
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The whole pairingPillar VII
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Where the dish comes from and how it came to be — on every recipe.
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