Recipe: the crunchy part of the lasagne by Massimo Bottura

Ingredients

• 1 yellow onion, diced
• 1 carrot, diced
• 2 celery stalks, diced
• 3g extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 dried bay laves
• 1 sprig rosemary
• 100g bone marrow
• 50g pancetta steccata, chopped
• 100g sausage meat
• 200g veal tail
• 100g veal tongue
• 100g beef cheek
• 100g cherry tomato confit
• 80g white wine
• 1.5g capon stock
• 5g sea salt
• 1g black pepper

 

Pasta dough

• 100g spinach
• 100g Swiss chard
• 500g 00 flour
• 8 egg yolks
• 1 egg
• Salt

 

Béchamel foam

• 30g butter
• 30g flour
• 500g milk, at room temperature
• 120g Parmigiano Reggiano, grated
• Sea salt

 

Tomato terrine

• 4 ripe tomatoes
• 1g sugar
• 1g sea salt
• 0.5g freshly ground black pepper
• 3g extra virgin olive oil
• 2g agar agar

 

Parmigiano crackers

• 15g soft butter
• 90g 30-month aged Parmigiano Reggiano, grated
• 5g cornflour

 

Ragù

 

Make a classic soffritto by cooking the onion, carrot and celery very gently in a pan with the olive oil. Transfer to a stainless steel bowl and stir in the bay and rosemary.

 

Blanch the bone marrow in salted boiling water and drain it on paper towels to absorb any excess liquid.

 

Sweat the pancetta in a large, heavy-based saucepan. Add the sausage meat and cook until browned. Remove any excess fat, then add the remaining meats, keeping them in large pieces, and cherry tomato confit. Brown them, add the wine and cook until the liquid has evaporated. Remove from the heat and add the soffritto.

 

Put the mixture in a sous-vide bag along with a little of the stock, and seal. Cook for 24 hours at 63°C.

 

Open the bag and separate the liquid and solids. Place the liquid in a pan and reduce it by half over low heat.

 

Chop the meat with a sharp knife. Put it in a large saucepan and add the liquid.

 

Pasta

 

Cook the spinach and chard in boiling water, then chill it immediately in iced water. Drain it well, dry it and pound it thoroughly.

 

Sift the flour onto a board and make a well in the centre. Add the egg yolks, egg and the spinach mixture gradually to the well, mixing until the dough comes together in a ball. Knead for 15 minutes, until smooth and elastic. Cover it with a clean dishcloth and leave to rest for 30 minutes.

 

Roll out the dough to a thickness of 1mm. Cut it into 5cm triangles. Cook the pasta in salted boiling water (10g salt per litre), drain it and dry it well. Stack the pasta, cover it carefully and let stand in the fridge for 30 minutes.

 

Preheat the oven to 220°C. Bake for 15 minutes, until the pasta is perfectly gratinated. Let stand in a warm place for five minutes before serving.

 

Béchamel foam

 

Melt the butter in a pan and add the flour and salt. Cook, stirring, until it forms a smooth paste, then add the milk. Stir very well and when it starts to thicken, add the Parmigiano and keep stirring. Cook for five more minutes. While still warm, process it in a thermal mixer at maximum speed, then strain it, put it into a siphon and chill it. Once cold, charge with two charges and shake it well.

 

Tomato terrine

 

Blend the tomatoes thoroughly and strain them, adding the sugar, salt, pepper and oil. Put the liquid into a small pan with the agar agar and bring to a boil, stirring, until it has melted completely. Pour the mixture into a 10cmx15cm rectangular tray and let cool. Once cold, cut it into 1cmx15cm strips.

 

Parmigiano crackers

 

Knead the butter, Parmigiano and cornflour together briefly. Roll it out to a thickness of 2mm and cut it into 5cm triangles, like the pasta. Bake at 200°C for two minutes, or less if necessary, until lightly browned.

 

To serve

 

Place a straight line of tomato terrine along the plate. Place four spoonfuls of the ragù alongside it, topped with spoonfuls of the béchamel foam. Rest two Parmigiano crackers and two crispy pasta pieces alternately in front of them.