Lasagne al forno with Bolognese and green pasta sheets

Fry the peeled and chopped vegetables in a little olive oil with the pancetta cubes until the vegetables soften. (Some Italian chefs insist that the meat and vegetables be fried separately as they require different levels of heat) But I cooked them together.

Add the ground beef to the vegetables and pancetta. Break the beef up with a wooden spoon and fry until nicely browned.

Add the wine and continue stirring. When the alcohol has evaporated, add the passata, tomato concentrate (if using) and the stock. Mix everything together.

Lower the heat and leave to simmer partially covered for about 2 hours, stirring occasionally.

Add salt and pepper to taste.

Add the milk, stir and continue to let the sauce simmer for another 30 minutes.

If you think the sauce is too liquid you can remove the cover completely till it reduces. But if you are using fresh or uncooked pasta the sauce needs to be a little liquid.

Melt the butter in a saucepan over low heat, incorporate the sifted flour and mix everything with a wooden spoon or whisk until you have a paste (roux)

Cook the roux until it is golden, and at this point add the milk a little at a time, plus a pinch of salt and a ½ teaspoon of grated nutmeg. Continue to stir until the sauce reaches the consistency you want.

If you are using dried pasta sheets partly cook them in boiling salted water. You may want to add a little olive oil to the water so they don't stick together or cook them one at a time!

The first step to making the green pasta is to wilt the spinach in a pan. Then you need to drain it well and chop it. I usually squeeze the cooked spinach in a tea towel to get as much liquid out of it as possible. Once the spinach is chopped, then purée it in a food processor until smooth

Sieve the flour into a bowl, add the eggs and the spinach, a pinch of salt and a tablespoon of olive oil. Beat the eggs with a fork and then mix the flour, eggs and spinach together until you have the beginnings of a dough. Next, use your hands to knead the dough in the bowl until it no longer sticks to the side of the bowl.

Turn the pasta dough out onto a well-floured work top and knead for 10 minutes until the dough is soft and pliable. Then roll the dough into a ball, wrap it in plasticwrap (clingfilm). Let it rest for 30 minutes.

Cut off about a quarter of the dough, flatten it slightly with your hands or a rolling pin, then pass it through your pasta machine 3 times through the widest setting. I fold the dough sheet into thirds the first 2 times I pass it through the widest setting. Then pass it through the next settings until the sheet is thin enough to make lasagne sheets with.

On my machine the widest setting is 7. I passed it though 7 (3 times), then through setting 5, then 3.

Finally, transfer the dough sheet to a floured work top and cut to the size you want for your oven dish. Lay ready sheets on a flour dusted tray until ready to make your lasagne al forno.

Then butter a rectangular baking dish and spread a thin layer of Bolognese sauce over the bottom. Cover the sauce with a layer of lasagne sheets, then cover them with a layer of sauce, some béchamel and a sprinkling of grated cheese.

Then put another layer of pasta, then bolognese sauce, béchamel and cheese and so on until the ingredients are used up, leaving some béchamel for the final layer.

Cover the last pasta layer with just béchamel sauce, grated cheese and some butter flakes.

Bake your lasagne al forno in a preheated oven at 170-180 °c (338-356°F)for about thirty minutes. When the surface is golden and the pasta is cooked (check using a fork) remove from the oven. If using uncooked pasta it's a good idea to cover the dish with aluminium foil for the first 15 minutes as otherwise the top may get golden before the pasta is cooked.

Allow the lasagne al forno to sit for 5-10 minutes before serving.